Bonds Unbreakable
by shielddrake42
Summary: A year has passed since young Silver and Blaze first met, and not much about their world has changed…until now. Suddenly, the arrival of someone unexpected will turn their lives completely around. Sequel to Golden Beginnings. Childhood Silvaze inside.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, locations, items, and so forth belong to Sega/SonicTeam/Dimps/etc. They do not belong to me. I own the storyline, theories, Polo and other original characters not licensed with the aforementioned companies.

A/N: Greetings readers! This is a sequel story to "Golden Beginnings," my oneshot focusing on Silver and Blaze's childhood. I would like to think that this fic can be read alone, but you may need to read "Golden Beginnings" in order to get the whole story. This ended up being longer than I anticipated, so I will be uploading it in segments, probably alternating with updates to my Star Wars fic.

As always, _thoughts are italicized_ and _**flashbacks are in italics and bold together**_.

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Six stones floated above lava pits of Crisis City, glowing softly blue as they slowly flew around. Typically, one would always expect to see strange things like this around the ruins of an ancient city destroyed by Iblis. It was actually a common ability, to be able to levitate objects; most of the inhabitants of Crisis City could do this, though the number of survivors of the Flames of Disaster had always been relatively small.

Crisis City was aptly named. One could not go outside without putting one's life on the line. Disregarding Iblis itself, there were the crumbling buildings, lava pools, crags, and sadly enough the danger of disease from the food and water that was available. Meat was unheard of, and the fruit and vegetables that made up the inhabitants' diet was never fresh; rather, they were often rotten, wrinkled, and tasteless. The water was not much better, ranging from murky at best and analogous to tar at worst, but with the heat caused by the fires the people had no choice.

Silver the Hedgehog looked up intently at the rocks, practicing his telekinesis as he always did on days when he was not helping his guardian, Polo the Anteater, with distributing food or exploring with his bet friend, Blaze the Cat. He could often be found at this spot on the top of one of the tallest buildings that miraculously still stood. He claimed that it was a good place to keep an eye out for Iblis. Blaze never joined him up there.

Blaze had been acting slightly strange lately, in fact. She frequently went off on her own, and Silver would find her staring off into the distance, lost in thought. She did not seem upset about anything. If she was, she would have told either Silver or Polo about it. She seemed more confused than anything else. Silver was getting a little worried, but Blaze had reassured him that she was all right, if not a bit preoccupied.

"I feel like something is missing, like I should be doing something that I'm not," she would say, before changing the subject.

Their friendship was not harmed by this though. If anything, the bond between the two only grew stronger over the past year. Silver had "rescued" Blaze from one of Iblis' monsters (she often joked that it wasn't much of a rescue) when they were both five years old. Silver discovered his telekinetic abilities that day, and they had been inseparable ever since, watching out for Iblis and planning what they would do once they were strong enough to fight it directly.

Iblis brought up bittersweet memories for Silver. The day he met Blaze had just been a few days after Iblis had murdered his mother, Aria. She had been distracting the monster of fire and molten lava when it attacked her, leading it away from her son who had been hidden away at the time…

_**Aria struggled to keep her breath as she ran from Iblis, clutching her son Silver tightly to her chest. She stopped for just a split second to look behind at her pursuer. Iblis' odd greens eyes (the only other color on it other than rotten brown or red) spotted her in an instant. Aria's eyes widened and she took off again, as quickly as her feet could carry.**_

_**The female white hedgehog came to a building partially buried underground. She entered, and quickly looked around.**_

**Think, Aria! I can distract Iblis better if I'm alone**_**, she thought, gripping her son tighter and causing him to give out a small cry. She ignored it. **_**I have to hide Silver. Better chance of him surviving.**

_**She spotted a little hollow beneath a piled of metal beams, against the wall. It was a small pocket, but it was large enough to fit one person. Aria did not even hesitate. She rushed to it and pushed Silver in. There was another howl from Iblis.**_

_**He gaped at her. Was she leaving him?! "Mother?! What—"**_

"_**Silver, whatever happens, stay here and don't make a sound," she ordered, her frightened expression showing that there was no room for argument. He swallowed anxiously, but nodded nonetheless. Aria smiled at him one last time, giving him a kiss on his forehead. "Good boy. I love you, Silver."**_

_**And with that, she was gone.**_

_**Silver sat in that spot for a long time. Holding his knees to his chest, he tried to block out Iblis' snarls, the sound of buildings bending, and the crashing of stone. There was one final roar, a scream that came from a female somewhere, a crash of metal against rock, and then…nothing.**_

Aria did not survive that attack. Silver had been living with a good friend of his mother, Polo, along with Blaze, ever since.

But back to the stones. They were flying about, spinning slightly as if trying to move on their own. Silver grinned slightly at his success. This was the easy stuff; he had trained himself to lift objects far heavier and larger, but he had to practice with little items as well, to keep himself in shape. Suddenly, he shot the six stones towards the lava, where they met the molten rock and melted instantly, and creating small splashes in their wake. He smiled. After a year of practice, he was getting much better at controlling his telekinetic skills.

"Fooling around again, Silver?" a familiar female voice called out to him from far below him. Blaze gave him a smile as he glanced down at her. "It's getting late. We better head home now."

Silver jumped down from his spot to her. Together they climbed down the rest of the building and through the streets of the ruins. Silver turned his head to her.

"Figure out what's wrong yet?"

"I know it's something," the cat replied. "I'm just not sure what it is. I can't explain it."

"Any bad feelings, or what?" Silver asked.

"No, not bad," Blaze answered, tapping her chin in thought. "Not bad, just…off."

"Off?"

"Like I'm waiting for it," she continued. "But I don't even know what 'it' is."

"I'd say ask Polo, but you already have," the hedgehog explained. Polo had been as clueless about these "off feelings" Blaze was having at they were. "But, this feeling doesn't hurt your concentration, right?"

Blaze shook his head. She knew he was referring to her ability to control her pyrokinesis, her manipulation over fire. If she was distracted too much, she would lose control over that power. But these thoughts did not seem to influence her abilities at all.

The sound of a loud howl tore through the air. Blaze's ears perked up. It wasn't Iblis (it had its own distinct roar) but it was clear that it belonged to one of Iblis' spawn. They usually only made that kind of sound when they were fighting something…or someone. The sound did not come from far away either.

Blaze took one look at Silver, who nodded to her, before taking off in the direction of the roars.

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It did not take the pair long to find the source of the howls. It was a group of three Iblis spawn, surrounding a hole in a building next to a large lava pool. They were snapping at whatever was inside the crack. It reminded Silver of the hole he had taken cover in a year ago. One of them gave out another roar, one that Blaze had begun to recognize as a sound calling for help. Whatever was in that hollow, those monsters wanted it badly.

Silver, being the reckless young boy that he was, jumped down from the path they had been following and rushed towards them, grabbing a few large boulders with his telekinesis as he went. Blaze sighed mockingly but quickly following him.

The hedgehog sent one of the boulders at the spawn, sending one of them away from the opening and into the lava. The other two swiftly turned their attention to them. Blaze sent a fireball towards them; the smaller one caught it in its mouth, but that bought Silver enough time to pick it up and slam it into a wall. He smiled; his practice at lifting and throwing larger objects was paying off.

The last of the creatures decided that Silver was the greater threat. Lunging for the young hedgehog, it pinned him with a single talon. Silver lifted anything that was in his mental reach and threw them at the monster holding him down, but to no avail. It wouldn't budge. Blaze rushed to help, grabbing its tail and shooting waves of fire into it through her hands. It was badly burned, but still effortlessly tossed her aside.

Blaze caught the sight of a brown body moving out of the hole that the spawn had been attracted to, and onto the top of the building. The form stopped where a large mental beam sat at the top, and he pushed it off the structure. It rolled down the ruins and shoved the lava creature off Silver. It growled in annoyance, but was too distracted to notice Blaze sending another fireball in its direction. It hit the spawn hard enough to knock it back into the fire, where it belonged.

Blaze walked over to Silver and offered a hand, helping him up. He smiled at her, and then looked up to where the older person in a large brown cloak still stood atop the nearby ruins. Silver gave him a wave, and the person began to climb back down.

Once at the bottom the person, who was notably taller than either child, walked to them. Blaze could just barely see his face under his hood.

"What a courageous pair," he said, slightly jokingly. Silver and Blaze blushed at the compliment. "I've rarely seen anyone so young fighting Iblis' monsters before."

"No trouble, sir," Silver replied. "We're happy to help."

"Perhaps you can help me further," the man said, staring at Silver interestedly. It was now clear that this person was male. "Do either of you know if there is a nearby food distributor? I'm low on rations."

"Sure, we know one not far from here—" Silver started, but was disrupted by Blaze pulling him away, to where the man couldn't hear them. "What?"

"Silver, don't you think something's strange about this guy?" Blaze asked. "He makes me a little nervous."

"You know, I think so too," agreed Silver, yet he also shook his head. "But we can't just let a traveler go with food, right? Polo would get mad at that."

"I know," the cat conceded. "But I'm keeping an eye on him."

"So am I," Silver comforted her, before running back to the traveler. "Follow us sir. We'll take you to our friend Polo for food."

"Polo…" he said quietly. He grabbed the rim of his hood and pulled it down a little further. "Lead on, young man. We better get moving before Iblis finds us here."

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	2. Chapter 2

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Polo the Anteater was not having a good day.

First, he received a message from his supplier that his shipment going to be smaller than usual. Apparently the fruit that was Crisis City's only food was not growing very well; not that it grew well normally, but it was worse than usual. This was bad, because it was Polo's job to give out food for travelers. It was the way the people survived, by giving and receiving food whenever possible. A shortage of food was one of the worst things to have happen.

Then Blaze comes to him about another one of her "feelings" about something being amiss. Don't get him wrong, he was just as concerned as she was about it; he learned long ago that you should always trust your gut when it came to survival. However, she reported these feelings so often that he was beginning to wonder if they weren't just her imagination.

And then he finds out that Silver had gone off again to his "special place" to practice his telekinesis. Again, Polo acknowledged how important this was, but really, that boy went off on his own (or with Blaze) without thinking things through. It was dangerous, and he should stick around where either Polo or Blaze could watch over him. Silver was just asking for it sometimes.

It was a lot harder raising two children on his own than Polo first thought.

As stated before, Polo was one of the few food distributors in Crisis City. It was his job to get food bags filled with fruit (or what was considered fruit) from the producers who grew it, and hand it out to any traveler who passed by. Visitors came more often than expected, and the older man needed the extra hands that Silver and Blaze provided.

He only had trouble with handling the large amounts of food because he had injured his right leg, twisting it unnaturally so that his foot pointed inward instead of forward. Hospitals and doctors did not exist in this future, so Polo had no choice but to let the leg heal that way. Neither Silver nor Blaze knew how he was injured. It had happened before either of them had been born, and Polo never talked about it.

The only other person who knew that event was Aria, Silver's mother, and of course she was gone…leaving a big hole in Polo's soul. She had been his best friend, much like Blaze was to Silver. Polo saw many parallels of his friendship with Aria when he looked at those two. He decided to raise Silver after Aria's death, and Silver had stumbled across Blaze being attacked by Iblis' spawn. Polo was still apprehensive about having three people living together; it was common knowledge that Iblis attacked people who were in large groups, but nothing bad had happened in the year that the three came together.

Boy, was that going to change.

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Silver and Blaze entered Polo's building with the stench of molten lava covering them. It was different from the usual smell that came with the fire and brimstone that everyone carried. This smell only caught on a person's clothing or fur if they had been battling with Iblis or one of its monsters. This automatically told Polo that the pair had been in a fight.

He dropped what he was doing and sniffed the two over, checking for any injuries or the like. Satisfied that he found none on Silver, he moved on to Blaze, and was glad that she had none either. It was then that he noticed the cloaked figure standing behind them.

It was unusual to see someone traveling with a cloak, but then Polo thought that since the cloak was a deep red color it was probably meant as camouflage, to hide among the black and red buildings that scattered the world. Polo never used one because he was brown, and naturally camouflaged in. Smart idea actually. Perhaps he should get one for Silver. White was a very striking color against brown after all.

Blaze was about to speak when Polo cut her off.

"You can tell me about your fight later," he ordered, holding up a hand and gesturing to the cloaked one. "Introduce me first."

"Sir, this is Polo," Silver said, turning to the person politely. "He's the food distributor we know."

"I see," the person spoke. His hand fidgeted, flexing his fingers oddly in the black, fingerless glove. "Is he your guardian?"

"Guardian?" Silver asked.

"Yes, I am," Polo answered for the boy as he hobbled over to the food pile to prepare a sack. "You want some food, I take it?"

"Yes please," the cloaked one said. His voice seemed tight, as if trying to hold something back. He glanced at Silver again. "How long have you lived with him?"

"About a year," Silver responded. "But I've known Polo for as long as I can remember."

"What about your…mother?"

"My m-mother?" stuttered Silver. The thought brought him an ache in his chest.

"Hey! Who do you think you are?!" Blaze yelped, standing beside Silver in comfort. She knew she shouldn't have trusted this man. "Asking about him mom like that. Forget it."

"How would you know about Silver's mother?" Polo demanded, holding the food bag tightly. "Blaze is right. Who are you?"

"…Someone who knows Aria well," the man replied. He slowly reached up and removed the hood from his face.

It was almost like a reflection. He had the same facial structure, eye color, and quill style as Silver, except that his quills had been cropped short—like an army cut. He had a small scar on his right cheek, going from his nose horizontally to the end of his face. Removing the cloak entirely showed that he was a good three and a half feet tall, a full six or seven inches taller than Polo, and wore a pair of heavy black army boots. He had a mane around his neck just like Silver, only it was longer and cascaded down his back almost like a cape. On his waist was a belt, with multiple pockets holding different items, including a pocket knife at his side. His fur was a deep army green, and his mane was slightly lighter in color, almost like jade. His golden-yellow eyes seemed surprised, perplexed, and hopeful at the same time.

Father and son met eye to eye for the first time. Silver's feet were frozen on the spot. Impossible. This was a dream. He glanced at Blaze to see her reaction, but she appeared just as stunned as he felt. She shook her head. He looked back at the older hedgehog and blinked. This wasn't a dream.

"You're name is…Silver," The older hedgehog finally spoke, uncertainty in his voice. He gave the child a small grin. "You look so much like your mother. Silver—"

Polo dropped the bag and stepped in from of Silver, shielding him from his dad.

"Blaze, take Silver and wait outside," he ordered, his eyes never leaving the hedgehog's. Silver began to protest, but Polo would have none of it. "Leave, Silver. Now."

Silver had never heard such strain in Polo's voice before, and he knew it wasn't the best time to argue. Blaze grabbed him arm and starting pulling him away. Silver hesitated, looking at his father for a moment before turning to follow the cat out of the room.

Once the two children had left for the hallways in the back, Polo spoke. "What do you want, Daxx?"

"At first, really, just food, but now," Daxx, the hedgehog, replied angrily. "That's my son. How dare you keep him from me! Silver!"

Daxx moved to head to the other room where the two kids had left, but was again blocked by Polo. He growled. "Get out of my way! It's not your place! You are _not _his guardian! Where's Aria?!"

Polo froze at the name. He started chuckling darkly, and Daxx stared at him in disbelief. What was he laughing about? It wasn't humorous laughter either.

"Aria…is dead," the anteater finally said, laughing a bit more before scowling at the other. "She died protecting _her _son from Iblis, while you were off gallivanting about with your 'colony' of so-called 'warriors'."

Daxx was the one who froze this time. Aria…dead…no, that couldn't be. Aria was one of the strongest persons he knew. She had been fine—she was fine! She had to be!

"I don't believe you," he hissed, clutching his fists and lifting them as if to punch Polo. "Where is she?!"

"…If you really are so curious, look for the circle of ruins south of here, near the old rail station," Polo told him. His voice had taken on a tint of sadness. "That's where I buried her when she died."

"…No…that's wrong," Daxx snarled. Clearly he was in denial. "How long ago was this?"

"About a year ago."

There was silence as Daxx paced around the room, deep in thought, trying to come to terms with this information. He eventually stopped and shook his head. Aria was dead, but they had a son together. When did that happen? He turned back to Polo.

"Silver is my son," he stated. Polo didn't move, but cocked an eyebrow as if asking 'So what?' "Did Aria know when I left?"

"I don't think so," Polo answered. "She didn't mention that she was going to have him until a little while after you were long gone."

"But he is mine," Daxx explained, more to himself that to Polo. "He's a perfect mix of the two of us."

"In blood only," Polo argued. "You certainly haven't done a thing to help raise him."

"I was at the colony!" the green hedgehog disagreed, finally turning his full attention back to the anteater. "If I had known—"

"You left Aria by herself! What makes you—"

"I wanted to take her with me!" yelled Daxx, his short quills standing on edge in anger. "She refused! I wanted her with me so badly—"

"You abandoned her!" Polo corrected. "Why would she want to be around a large group anyway?! That's dangerous! For her and her son!"

"Polo, please, let me see my son," Daxx's tone suddenly switched from anger to pleading. "Please. He's my child. And all I have left of her."

"I think that's for Silver to decide," Polo concluded. He turned his head to glance at the open door behind him. A tuft of white fur could be seen around the corner. "I know you've been listening Silver, Blaze. Come out…if you want."

There was slight hesitation in Silver's movements as he uneasily entered the room again, Blaze right behind him, taking his steps very slowly. He walked around Polo and faced his father. It was strange, looking up at this older hedgehog. Silver wasn't sure what to think or do. He never actually expected to ever meet his dad. Part of him wanted to punch him, for leaving him and his mother. Another part of him wanted to run up and embrace him tightly, never letting go. It was like being torn in two.

Fortunately for him, Daxx made the first move instead. He knelt down to Silver's level, looking him in the eye and giving him a small smile. Silver looked at him for a split second before averting his eyes.

"Hello, Silver," he said, a bit unsure himself. "I'm Daxx. …I'm your father."

"I guessed that," Silver replied tentatively.

"Yeah…" Daxx looked like he was searching for something to say. He had wanted to speak to his little boy, but now that he was words refused to come out of his mouth. "…How old are you?"

"Six."

"Six. Wow," Daxx replied. This was awkward. "You're a big guy now."

_I've missed so much of his life already_, Daxx told himself silently. He could kick himself. _I'll make it up to him though. I will._

"Listen Silver," Daxx said. He grabbed on of the boy's hands to hold in his own. "I live in a colony some distance from here. There are others there, who work on finding a way to destroy Iblis once and for all."

_So that was the 'colony' he and Polo mentioned before_, thought Silver.

"There are other children there too and…" he paused a moment. "I would like to take you there. To live with me, I mean."

Polo had to stop himself from yanking Silver away from the other hedgehog. He wanted to take Silver away from everything he knew?! And to the place where he would be in the most danger?! Polo wouldn't have it! He was not going to let him bring any harm to Aria's only child!

"Absolutely not!" Polo demanded. "He's not going. He's—"

"Capable of making the decision for himself," Daxx argued, looking up at Polo with a stern face. "Did you not just say that yourself?"

Polo's mouth snapped shut. Silver just looked up at his father.

"Really? Live with you?" he asked. Daxx nodded, his smile widening. He was considering it! This was promising. But his enthusiasm faded as he watched Silver look around at the other two. "What about Blaze and Polo? Will they come too?"

Daxx shook his head.

"Only members of the colony and their families are allowed into the colony," Daxx explained. This was a good thing. He didn't want Polo anywhere near his son for any longer than he already had been. "They would have to stay out."

Blaze was startled by this statement, and lowered her eyes. Silver wasn't going to just leave her by herself, was he?! Blaze blinked as tears started forming in her eyes. This couldn't be happening. She and Silver were best friends, weren't they? They promised to destroy Iblis together one day! But now…she couldn't really blame him for wanting to be with his father though. Blaze often wished her parents were still alive, and mourned that loss often. If Silver wanted to be with his dad, she wasn't going to stop him.

But Silver instantly jerked his hand out of Daxx's. The older hedgehog looked at him in shock. The boy was furiously shaking him head no, as if the mere thought of leaving them behind caused him pain.

"No. I'm sorry," Silver responded, backing away. He looked at Blaze and Polo, and then back to Daxx. "I can't leave them. They're my friends."

Daxx stared at the child, wanting to scream and cry at the same time. Again, he was so like his mother. She hadn't wanted to leave for the colony for the same reason. The only thing he did though was sigh.

"Silver, I want you with me. I want to be your father. " he said. He was not above begging at this point. "I can't do that here. I have to return to the colony soon. Please. Will you give me that chance?"

"…Maybe you can visit me here sometime? When you aren't working?" Silver suggested. Daxx had to bite his tongue to stop his groan of irritation. "I have to stay here too. I know it's not much, but this is my home."

Home? Daxx looked around at the shattering building. It was in such shambles; who knew when it was going to collapse around them? But the colony…he could offer so much more! It was safe there, with other people watching each others' backs and working together to help in the effort to rid themselves of Iblis for good. There was better food there, other children, and more hope (which was sparse amongst the inhabitants of Crisis City as it was). Daxx tried to explain this to him, but Silver would have none of it.

"This is my _home_," insisted Silver. "Where my friends are. I barely even know you."

"Silver—"

"He's told you his choice, Daxx," Polo finally interrupted, happy at the decision and more than eager to get the older hedgehog out of his building. "He wants to stay. You are free to visit him, but not here. Be gone."

Daxx took one last look at Silver. He seemed rather shy about what he just said, but seemed firm in his resolve. Well, what was Daxx going to do about that?

"I'll come see you soon," he replied, his face expressionless and his voice toneless. "Until then."

"Bye…dad."

"Father."

Daxx did not get a response. He turned around and, looking back once more at his son, left the building.

Polo let out a huge sigh of relief, which was echoed by one of Silver's own. He looked down at the boy, who seemed rather sad. "Silver?"

"Do you think I was too hard on him?" Silver asked, looking Polo in the eye. There were those eyes again. Shaped and shining like Aria's, but with Daxx's coloring. "Do you think I should have gone with him?"

"Like I said," Polo reiterated. "It was your choice."

"Besides, he can come and visit. He said he would," Blaze reminded him. She shuffled her feet slightly. "Actually Silver, I'm kind of glad you aren't leaving. But…don't feel like you have to stay because of me…"

Blaze almost choked as she said this. She certainly didn't want Silver to leave, but she also wanted him to be happy. She was startled when Silver gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"What I said was true, I'm not leaving my friends," he said with a smile. "And you're right. He did say he'll visit soon."

"Well, now that all that excitement is over," Polo joked slightly, and the two children giggled. "It's late. Time for bed, I think.

"Do you need help with the food, Polo?" Blaze asked, gesturing to the pile behind him.

"Thank you, Blaze, but I can take care of you," replied Polo. "You two need to go to bed. Go on now! Shoo!"

Silver and Blaze played along, acting like Polo was really frightening. The anteater let out a mock growl as the two went to bed.

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Silver and Blaze had been asleep for a few hours while Polo finished organizing the food bags. An earthquake caused by Iblis had spilled all of the fruit out of their respective bags and onto the ground. It took Polo at least three hours before it was all sorted again. That was more than a little annoying.

Polo had just finished up when he heard the door squeak open. He turned his head to see Daxx standing in the doorway, a hard look on his face. He stepped into the room slowly, as if gauging how the anteater may react. He wasn't disappointed.

"What do you want?" Polo demanded of him, barely keeping the growl out of his voice. "Silver's asleep. You can't see him right now."

"I came back for the first reason I came," Daxx answered, his own voice barely civil. "I need food for my travels."

Polo gave out a humph and turned to grab a bag. The sooner he was gone the better. However, this turned out to be a mistake, turning his back on his rival, because the next thing he knew he was hit on the head and pushed to the ground. He looked up and saw Daxx's solemn face as the darkness crept over his eyes.

Yep, Polo was not having a good day.

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Satisfied that the anteater was unconscious, Daxx turned his attention to the doorway at the back of the room. He walked as softly as he could, moving through the hallway and checking each room in search of his son. He finally found him in, naturally, the last room he checked.

The little white hedgehog was snuggled in a bed of used food bag rags, set up in a circle like a nest. The cat girl was next to him, sleeping curled up on a similar bed, but he paid her no attention. He was completely focused on the boy.

Silver…was the greatest shock but the most wonderful thing to happen to Daxx. Every day he thought about Aria, and how she was doing. Each time he was sent out of the colony for a mission he would search for her, but never found a trace of her. If he had known she lived around this region of Crisis City (where he rarely traveled nowadays) he could have found her and Silver a long time ago. He could have taken them to the safety of the colony long before Iblis had the chance to kill Aria. He could have—

Too many "could haves" ran through his mind. Daxx shook his head. There was nothing he could do about that now, except be there for his son. And this he would not fail at.

Daxx took out a bottle and a small cloth from one of the pockets on his belt. He couldn't read what the label on the bottle said, but if he could he would have recognized the words "Diethyl ether." He did know what the contents of the bottle did however, and he carefully poured some of it onto the cloth. Holding his breath, he placed the cloth over the cat's nose and mouth. She inhaled and coughed a bit, but soon was in a deeper sleep than before.

Daxx repeated this with Silver, though the boy put up a bit more of a fight as his air-supply was temporarily cut off. Daxx waited until his movements stilled before lifting the cloth and replacing it and the bottle back on his belt. He waited a few seconds, and then lifted Silver up into his arms. Now he could travel quickly without waking Silver up.

Daxx exited the building again, giving Polo's body one last smirk, and covered himself in his brown camouflage cloak again. He looked down at Silver one last time before sprinting off. If he traveled constantly, he could reach the colony again in a few hours.

He had completely forgotten about his mission to search for Chaos Emeralds. This was far more important to him.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Blaze awoke at her normal time in the morning, or what she always guessed was morning. The sun never shone in Crisis City, but one could still tell when the sun had set. It was always notably darker, and thus more dangerous. When the sun rose, it became brighter, sure, but the only true indication of that was that the clouds were bright orange instead of dark brown.

Something was off though. Blaze patted the spot next to her, where Silver always slept, and felt nothing but the cloth bags they used for bedding. She opened her eyes to find the space empty. She startled a bit. That wasn't right. Silver always laid by her until she woke up, just as she did if she awoke before him. It was their routine.

If Silver was already up and gone, then something was wrong.

Blaze slowly stood up, stretched, and looked around. No sign of Silver. She stood and left the room to enter the front lobby, where Polo kept his food supply. There was her confirmation that something very bad had happened.

She rushed over to the unconscious body of the anteater, noticing a small pile of red liquid (obviously blood) near the back of his head. It didn't look serious, but she still shook him to wake him.

"Polo! Polo!" she cried, shaking his shoulder roughly. When he didn't move she channeled a minute blast of heat into her hands, warming his arms. She was trying to shock him awake…and she wasn't disappointed.

Polo let out a groan before releasing a yelp from the burn. He sat straight up and looked at the small burn on his left arm. He turned his head to give Blaze a glare, but this was a mistake, because his head spun a bit and he moaned.

"You've been hurt, Polo," the young cat informed him. "You're bleeding."

Polo touched the back of his head, where he could feel a bruise and a cut had formed. Indeed, he was bleeding, but it did not seem to be a bad injury. He grabbed an empty food rag and pressed it against his head to staunch the bleeding.

"Sorry I burned you."

"That's okay, Blaze," Polo said to the younger. "You needed to wake me up. Thanks."

"Are you all right?" she inquired.

"I think so," the anteater replied. He removed the rag when he felt that he wasn't bleeding anymore. And then his last memories came back. He looked around urgently. "Blaze? Where's Silver?"

"Isn't he out here with you?" Blaze asked. She shook his head. "Of course he's not. He'd have woken you up if he was. I don't know where he is. He wasn't in bed this morning."

"And you two always wait for the each other to wake before leaving," Polo stated. He knew that routine as well. He gave out a big sigh and a curse. "Blaze. Daxx took Silver last night."

"Daxx? Silver's dad, right?" She recalled. She cocked her head to the side. "Are you sure?"

"Unless the cut on my head is just my imagination…"

"Why would he take Silver without telling us though?" Blaze wondered, before slapping her palm to her forehead. "Nevermind. Dumb question."

Polo looked around the room. Nothing else seemed to be out of place, except that two food bags were missing from his pile. Daxx must have taken those too…for the trip to the colony…the colony…

"He took Silver to that colony place he talked about, didn't he?" Blaze said tentatively, afraid of speaking the obvious again.

"I have no doubt," Polo agreed, nodding to the girl. It was as if she had read his thoughts.

How could he let this happen? …Well, all right, he knew how it happened. He turned his back on a hedgehog he knew he couldn't trust. He should have expected that, should have been more careful. What kind of a guardian was he anyway?

Polo looked up to the clouds above. What would Aria think if she knew what happened? Would she be disappointed in him, for letting someone kidnap her son so easily? Or would she be happy that it was Silver's own father who took him? He really missed her—

– But he didn't miss Blaze go out the front door of the building. Polo rushed after her, calling her name and demanding that she wait. She paused and turned around back to him.

"Where are you going?" he asked in a huff.

"Where else?" she answered, as if he should have known. "I'm going to go get Silver back."

"You don't even know where he is!" Polo reminded her angrily.

"Maybe not," Blaze said. "But searching is better than sitting here doing nothing about it."

Polo stared at her for a brief moment and chuckled inside. That was exactly something Aria would have said in this situation.

"I'll go with you of course."

"What about your leg?" Blaze was referring to his twisted right leg.

"What about it?"

Blaze stared at him. "I hope we don't run into any trouble then."

"Me too," Polo concurred. He scratched his head. "I think I remember Aria telling me where the colony was one time."

"You know where it is?"

"I've never been there, but if I remember the directions right, then we head in that general direction," Polo explained with a point northward. He shrugged. "Better than nothing, right?"

"Right," Blaze said with a nod. "Let's go."

"It's this way," Polo said as he pointed north again and began walking. "I think…"

Blaze was right behind him.

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Silver, surprisingly enough, was shivering when he woke up. Shivering did not happen in Crisis City, or anywhere in the world for that matter. It was always too hot, with the rolling magma and Iblis and its spawn spouting fire everywhere. Sweating was what people did, not shivering. The young hedgehog felt something covering him, and the shivering stopped. Moments later he slowly opened his eyes.

Well, he certainly wasn't home anymore. Where was he? The walls were made of metal, like some of the more advanced buildings around the city, and were rusted and covered in dirt. In fact, the metal from one of the corners of the small room had fallen away, exposing a small patch of dirt wall beneath it. Silver frowned. Was he underground? That would explain the shivering, as he knew it was sometimes colder underground, except for the pockets of lava that were the precursors to volcanoes.

Silver himself was sitting on an old mattress that was squishy in a number of places. It was less comfortable than the cloths he normally slept on, but admittedly was better than the hard floor. A brown cloak covered him like a blanket.

The room was small, only about two hundred feet squared. There were metal crates stacked against one wall, and a sink opposite of them. There was a sliding door on the far wall, which was rather large compared to Silver. Someone who was five or six feet tall could fit through a door that size. There were also food scraps and dishes piled up next to the sink.

At the sink was Daxx, staring hard at something at the bottom of the sink. He reached his hand down and pulled…something…out of the drain. It was tar-like in color and consistency, and Daxx threw it into a nearby can.

Silver blinked and groaned, his stomach suddenly doing acrobatics inside. Daxx took one look at him before grabbing one of the bowls from the sink and kneeling by his son.

"Here, use this," he ordered, holding the bowl in front of the boy.

Silver lurched a few times before finally emptying the contents of his stomach into the bowl. Daxx dumped it down the sink and returned the bowl, in case Silver needed it again. He then grabbed another bowl and placed it under the faucet. He turned it on, and more black tar left the faucet into the sink. Daxx gave it a few whacks with his fist, and the tar disappeared and was replaced by water, albeit very dirty, dark brown water.

Nonetheless, he brought this bowl to Silver for a drink. He switched bowls and dumped the again vomit-filled bowl down the sink. He then rinsed it and sat it aside. He returned to his son, who had grabbed the water bowl and downed a few gulps. He gave out a cough, and then settled back onto the bed.

"Dad…?"

"Father, and I'm sorry, Silver," Daxx said, brushing the new sweat from the boy's forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"

"What happened to me?" Silver asked weakly.

"I used a liquid to put you to sleep so you wouldn't wake up during our journey," Daxx explained. "Unfortunately, it can cause you to feel really sick afterwards. It also probably making you a little cold, huh? Do you need another blanket? Or another bowl? Or—"

"Our journey?" Silver wondered, his strength slowly returning to him. "What journey? Where are we?"

There was a pause. "Remember the colony I told you about? This is it…or rather, this is my room in it."

"The colony…but, what about Blaze?! And Polo?!" Silver exclaimed. When he didn't get an answer, he started to get angry. "Oh no! Tell me you didn't!"

"We're father and son, Silver. We should be together. We—" Daxx argued. He was interrupted when Silver abruptly pushed the cloak off of him and tried to stand. "Silver!"

"I'm going home," the younger hedgehog stated, his voice hardened. "And you can't stop me."

Silver stood up and rushed to the door. Daxx was a little faster than him though, and he quickly blocked the way to the door. Silver gave him a glare that could have killed.

"Let me though."

"I can't let you leave, son."

"Please. I want to go home."

"This could be your home, Silver, if you would just let it."

"I already told you my decision," Silver snapped, with a stomp of his foot. "But you kidnap me and bring me here against my will!"

"I'm dong what's best for you."

"I don't believe that for a minute!"

"We're family, Silver—"

"Blaze and Polo are my family!" The younger bickered. "You could be too, but if you act like this—"

"You are _my_ son!" Daxx snarled. Silver jumped back at his tone. The older hedgehog kneeled in front of him, grabbed his shoulders, and gave him a shake. "Not Polo's! _Mine_!"

Silver had frozen on the spot when Daxx had grabbed him. He was in complete shock. No one had ever treated him or talked to him like that before. It was a complete surprise, and once again he was torn in half. On one hand, he did want to know his dad, and be a family with him. He could learn more about his mother that way, since Polo was reluctant to talk about her. But he didn't want to be family with someone who would take him away from all he knew and cared about. Blaze was probably worried sick about him. He had no idea how to handle this kind of thing.

Daxx, however, took his silence as acceptance, and released his hold. "Are you hungry?"

"No," Silver said meekly. He clearly wasn't going anywhere soon, so he might as well not make his father angry. "Where are we? Are we underground?"

"Yes, about a hundred feet under," Daxx described. "I'll give you a tour later. For now, you need some sleep. It's late, and I've got work to do tomorrow."

"Sleep? I just woke up."

"I know, but try to rest anyway, okay?"

"…Okay."

Silver had no other choice than to lay back down on the bed. He wasn't tired in the least, but he didn't want to incur his father's wrath again. Daxx laid down next to him, and quickly fell asleep. It was many hours later, in this spooky, unfamiliar place, when Silver finally drifted off too.

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	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Darn this is a long chapter. Or at least, it seemed long when I was writing it. Sorry if it is not as good as the last few chapters. I honestly don't like it too much, but ah well. I've been rushed a bit the last few weeks. Also, be prepared for some meanness. Review responses are at the bottom…and are as long as the chapter itself. …Enjoy!

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Polo sniffed and looked around. He wasn't very familiar with the area. This region was a little beyond the main Crisis City vicinity, and he normally didn't travel this far, even before his leg injury. Now, he was lost.

He stopped walking, and Blaze behind him stopped as well. They had been hiking a few hours, heading in the direction that Polo believed would lead to them to Daxx's oh-so-special colony. Really, it wasn't even that great; granted he had never been there, but any place with that many people in one spot was asking for trouble. Iblis somehow had the intelligence to recognize that it would cause more damage and pain if it attacked multiple people at once. And the colony was a perfect place for that.

Back to Polo. He tapped his head as he tried to recall Aria's directions to the colony. Unlike him she had been there a few times. He never went with her, although she did tell him where it was in case he ever needed to go. Now he wished he had paid more attention to her instructions.

"Everything okay, Polo?" Blaze asked him.

"Not sure where we are," he replied, not meeting her gaze. "Aria told me how to get there by following certain landmarks, but I can't remember what they all were, or where they were located."

"They might also have changed since she told you," Blaze hypothesized. "Iblis can move buildings around, and I bet some of this lava flows differently from before."

"Hmm, I hadn't thought of that," Polo agreed. He sighed and went to a rock to sit down. "Just give me a minute."

"Is it your leg?"

"No, just thinking. Trying to remember."

Blaze let him think, all the while looking around at the city ruins. They really didn't change much no matter where one went. She didn't think these buildings looked much different from the ones near home. They were roughly the same size, shaped, state of wreckage, and color. How Polo was supposed to find the colony using "landmarks," Blaze had no idea.

She suddenly felt something tugging at her chest. She looked down. Nothing there, but something was affecting her.

It was the oddest thing really. She had been having these feelings for a few weeks now, but nothing quite as intense as this. Before it was just a longing and a feeling that she was missing something…or that she wasn't doing something she should be. Blaze never thought on this before she met Silver and Polo, so maybe it had something to do with them? She couldn't be sure…

Lost in thought, Blaze began to wander a bit. After telling Polo she was going to look around (which he only answered with a warning to be careful), she started to climb one of the taller buildings. She could see more from there.

It seemed that they were approaching an area where there was less magma flow and more actual earth. Seeing the original ground, no covered by either lava or skyscrapers, was a rare sight indeed. Blaze knew that those were the few places where food was grown, because plants required soil. It was still a wonder how any plant life managed to grow in such a horrible place. Polo did tell her once that plants could do well in volcanic soil, but that was long ago, before Iblis was cursed upon the land. Now, the soil was barely able to support organic life. It was a miracle that any vegetation grew at all.

There was another advantage to the region having more brown earth and less orange lava: Blaze could more easily spot any of Iblis' blood red monsters roaming about. And that was exactly she saw.

There were two of the four-legged, dragon-like creatures huddled up inside a small, fenced area in the shape of a rectangle. There were odd, circle-like metal rings attached to the tops of two large poles on either end of the rectangle. She cocked her head. Some ancient ritual place or alter? Who knew what the ancient ones used it for?

Anyway, the creatures were crouched together, looking at something between them. Whatever it was, it had a sharp sparkle to it that quickly caught Blaze's eye. It also caused the tug in her torso to become stronger. Well, whatever it was, she was going to check it out.

Being much more skilled in combat than she was about a year ago, Blaze had no qualm with heading straight into battle with them by herself. Plus the fact that there were only two of them would make the fight that much simpler.

Blaze started with a drill kick to the rear end of the left monster, slamming it hard enough to send it into the nearby fence. It was stunned for a sufficient time, allowing her to send a fireball into the face of the other. While that one was occupied with its burnt face, the first leaped at her with a roar, attempting to pin her to the ground. The cat was faster though, and she retaliated with a swift kick to its belly. The creature then mysteriously dispersed into yellow energy. That had happened before every time either she or Silver defeated one of Iblis' spawn, and she had no idea what it meant.

This momentary distraction gave the second monster the chance to counterattack with a swipe of its front claws. Blaze turned around just in time for it to hit her in the shoulder. She yelped at the pain, but shot another fireball at her attacker. It dissipated into the same yellow energy.

Blaze held her clothing to the cuts to staunch the bleeding. Amazingly, the injury was not very bad, and the blood ceased to flow after a moment. She turned her attention to what the two creatures had been looking at.

It was a small gemstone, purple in color, in a brilliant cut that gave it a cone-like shape. It gleamed with a strange shine that, for some odd reason, made her chest tingle again. It was the same feeling as she had been experiencing for such a long time, only stronger and more focused. How strange. Did this gem have something to do with it?

Realizing that she had been gone for a while, Blaze quickly pocketed the gem and set off back to Polo.

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Polo was still sitting on the same rock that Blaze had left him on, appearing to be lost in thought. His eyes were closed, and he only opened them when he heard the young cat jogging towards him.

"Find anything of interest?" He asked her.

"Not really. Ran into a couple of Iblis' monsters," she replied, showing him her slightly injured shoulder. "But nothing serious."

Polo took a hold of her shoulder to get a better look. The four cuts did not seem to be too deep, so she probably didn't have anything to worry about. It was strange that such a young child should be involved with defending herself against such monsters on her own. …Which begged the question: how did Blaze survive this world before she met Silver?

"You and Silver fight so much for your age," commented Polo.

"Nothing serious, I said," Blaze persisted. "Besides, how many battles have you been in?"

"_**How many battles have you fought, Polo?" a young Aria, only a year prior Silver's birth, said to her friend Polo, who was currently sitting against a wall and nursing his recently injured leg. It had been twisted during a fight with Iblis the day before.**_

"_**I can't remember," Polo replied, gasping in agony as he tried to move a bit. "This hurts like—"**_

"_**Don't say it," Aria interrupted him. She looked over his leg. "Are you sure you don't want me to try to put it right?"**_

"_**I don't want to take the chance that it will get worse if you try," the brown anteater answered. Then he realized what he said. "Uh, no offense. I mean…"**_

"_**I know what you mean. That's your choice, I guess," the white hedgehog female said. She looked rather put out, however. "I doubt you'll be in many fights from now on though."**_

"_**No, probably not."**_

"_**I need to head out. I'm meeting with Daxx," Aria told him, starting to head for the exit. "Will you be okay on your own for a moment?"**_

"_**I still don't get what you see in that schmuck."**_

"_**Polo!"**_

"_**What? He is."**_

"_**He's a scout for that colony place. They wouldn't let him do that if he wasn't competent," she argued. "And he said he has something important to ask me today."**_

"_**Wonder what that is."**_

_**She frowned at him.**_

"_**Fine, fine. I won't insult him," Polo apologized. "At least, not in front of you."**_

_**Aria's frown gave way to a sly smile. "How many battles have you have your fought, Polo?"**_

"One thousand, ninety-two."

"Really?!" Blaze yipped. She stared at him in incredulity. "How old are you?"

"I think I remember where to go now," the anteater said, giving her good shoulder a pat and undoubtedly ignoring the question. "Let's get going. We need to find Silver."

Blaze nodded eagerly, deciding that she would keep the gem a secret for the moment.

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Daxx woke Silver up rather early the next day, or what Daxx claimed was the next day. Silver hadn't been outside in a while, and the only way to tell the difference between night and day in Crisis City was how dark the looming clouds were. The two hedgehogs cleaned up with the dirty water that came out of the sink's tap and ate some breakfast before Daxx ushered his son out of the small room.

Silver finally got the chance to see the colony itself. The main center was made up of a large circular room, with a diameter of about three building lengths. It was gargantuan! Around the room were many, many doors, just like the one that led to Daxx's chambers. Daxx explained that each member of the colony had his or her own room, except for the ones with large families, who got special, larger rooms on the floor below them in order to make room for everyone.

There were three levels of the colony. The lowest one was for the larger families, who had more than two children, and for growing food, because it was closer to the ground for the plants to grow in. It was also the level that transported water to each room and ran the generators to make light so far underground.

The second level contained the rooms for single members and smaller families. It also contained meeting rooms for the people in charge, who Daxx said were called "Elders." There were ten Elders at any one time; they were the oldest and most experienced in the colony, and when one died the next eldest member in the colony took his or her place. The Elders were currently led by Elder Dolph, an aged wolf who was rumored to be over one hundred years old and had the power to move the earth at will. Silver made a mental note that the second level was also the one with the exit that led to the surface.

The third level was the one on the top. It was the designated work area for those who built, made, or created something that was needed, such as repairing a door or constructing a table. That was where Daxx worked. He was the head worker in charge of making a weapon of some kind, but he didn't go into much detail about it with Silver at that time.

"I'll tell you more about later tonight," he told his son. "When we're not running a bit late."

"How many people live here?" asked Silver.

"I'd guess about three hundred," Daxx guessed, amused by Silver's amazed look at the response. "Not including any new children that haven't been born yet."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Silver wondered. There was no way so many people lived in one place at the same time! "Doesn't Iblis attack you a lot?"

_Not this again_, Daxx thought, but then said out loud. "We're quite a ways underground, so we're safe."

"Where are we going now?" Silver inquired, looking around.

His father led him to an area that was enclosed by a fence. Inside were other children his age, of many different species. They were playing with strange cubes of wood, balls, and wheels. They all seemed a little timid, but Silver couldn't put his finger on why. The children were supervised by an older eagle lady, with slightly graying feathers. She was very plain in appearance, as if she was trying to be boring. She was odd…in a simplistic way.

The eagle stood to meet Daxx and Silver at the entrance to the yard. She plastered a large smile on her face.

"Hello, Daxx. This must be the little one," she said, kneeling to look at Silver more closely. "My name is Ovia. I'm the Den Mother here. You must be Silver."

"How'd you know my name?"

"The Elders always tell me when a new child comes into my care," Ovia explained. She then rose to speak to Daxx. "I'll take good care of him, Daxx. I promise."

"Thank you, Ovia," Daxx said, with a nod. "I'll be back later, Silver. Be good until then."

"You're leaving me here?"

"Just for a few hours."

And with that, Daxx was gone. Ovia ushered Silver into the fenced-off area.

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Two hours after his father had left him in the care of this "Den Mother," Silver was terrified.

"Mother" was the last word he would have used to describe this Ovia character. She had appeared to be sweet and kind on the surface, but once any of the adults were out of hearing range she became a volcano. The slightest thing set her off. Way off.

"Don't eat that, you idiot! That's my food!"

"Keep that racket down! I'm taking my morning nap!"

"Stop crying, you ninny!"

"If I see you playing with that one last time, I'll smack you so hard your sister will feel it!"

"You! I just dropped my fruit over there. Clean it up now!"

Those were just a few examples. And even the slightest infraction would result in corporal punishment. One of the children, a young raccoon, had been spanked ten times because she started to cry when Ovia stepped on her finger. Silver fortunately had been able to avoid the bird's wrath so far, and would comfort the younger children if they were hurt.

Silver's thoughts on this? _I've got to get out of here!_

The raccoon girl was kind (and brave) enough to distract Ovia while Silver snuck out. "Repayment for your hug," the girl had said, which he had given her after her spanking. She caused some trouble on the other side of the area involving a tower of wood cubes, most certainly which would result in another punishment, but she insisted. With Ovia screaming elsewhere, distracted, Silver lifted the clamp on the fence door with his telekinesis, carefully opened the door to avoid making a sound, slid out, and closed it again. After that, he ran.

Silver recalled Daxx telling him that the exit back to the surface was on the same level as the Den Mother's place. He glanced around, trying to find his way through the adults as they ran back and forth through the area, for the way out. He saw it on the other side of the compound.

He smiled. Home free. He would get out of the colony, and somehow make his way back home to Blaze and Polo. He wasn't sure where he was in relation to them, but he would improvise. Until then—

He gave out a yelp as he was plucked off of the ground and into the air. Turning his head, he saw that Ovia had caught up with him. She was silent as she carried him back to the fence. Silver cried in his head. He had been so close!

What happened next was a blur to him. He remembered being brought back to the Den Mother's area, placed over Ovia's knee, and being smacked for all he was worth. He didn't know how many times she hit him; he lost count after twenty. His rear was entirely numb when it was over.

Afterwards, he curled himself up into a ball in a corner of the room. He vaguely recalled the raccoon girl coming up to him and embracing him. Aside from Blaze, he was never hugged. It was a small comfort.

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At the end of the day, parents came to pick up their children for the evening. Ovia put on her most friendly face for all of the adults, who were oblivious to the fear in their child's eyes. Silver had heard Ovia threaten the other kids that they better not tell their parents about how she treated them…or else. No child was bold enough to ask what "or else" meant.

Ovia made one grand mistake though: she told Daxx about Silver's escapades.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Silver startled at the sound of his father's voice at such a loud volume. But he wasn't speaking to Silver. He was speaking to Ovia.

"I said, your son tried to escape from the colony," Ovia described calmly. "And I gave him a spank or two as punishment."

Daxx stared at her for a split second before facing his son. He turned the boy around to see his behind, and he immediately saw red.

"Tell me, Miss Ovia," Daxx said, his voice low and incredibly menacing. "How can one or two spanks cause me son's rear to be blood red and sore?"

"He has sensitive skin, Daxx," the eagle tried to explain. She looked a little nervous now. "It was only once or twice. _Right_, Silver?"

Both of the adults were looking at his expectantly now. Ovia had been clear that he must not say a thing against her, just like she had the other children. The others were scared stiff by her, enough to be petrified into silence. Under normal circumstances, she would never be caught for her horrible actions.

There was one thing she underestimated about Silver though. This young white hedgehog had faced off with Iblis, unlike the other kids. Compared to Iblis, this eagle was about as frightening as individual feathers she molted throughout the day.

"She did, Dad," Silver answered, looking at his father with an intensely sincere look.

"It's drue," the raccoon girl decided to speak up too, despite her small speech impediment. "She's dreally mean do us. She hit us and id hurts."

"She did," another child spoke up."

More of the kids under the Den Mother's care begun to speak up. The adults, who had gathered around, all looked horrified. Ovia herself looked enraged.

"They're lying! I've done no such thing!" she denied. There was another round of rebellious cries from the children at these statements. Ovia looked around at the adults. "You all don't really believe this, do you?"

"I believe my own son's word," Daxx answered. He purposely stood before Ovia, fist clenched and on his hips. "Punishments are not to be physical, nor that intense. What if you really hurt him? How many children have you really hurt?"

More denials came from Ovia, followed by more demands and questions from the other parents. Some of them were checking their children over for any injuries, and gasping in shock when they found them. The parents of the young raccoon were astonished by the presence of multiple bruises on her arms and legs. Many of them asked their child why he or she never said anything, and every single full story finally came out. Silver's courage and sense of justice had finally exposed the truth.

"If this bird is the person who takes care of our children while we are away, I believe that I will never leave my son for work again," Daxx insisted. There were many yells of agreement, and Ovia now looked scared more than anything. "I move for a vote of no trust in Ovia the Eagle. I move that she be removed from her duties as Den Mother, effective immediately."

Ovia looked around, absolutely flabbergasted by the support that the older hedgehog was rallying against her.

Daxx picked up his son and left the area, leaving the remaining adults to deal with the monster.

The news about the Den Mother spread through the colony really quickly. She had been taken before the Elders for judgment. They were more than appalled, to say the least. Ovia had been relieved of her duties and banished from the colony. This rarely happened in the colony, as banishment was considered the most severe punishment a person could incur. Ovia was removed from the area, and never seen again.

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Daxx carried Silver away from the scene as quickly as he could. He was so angry; there were no words to properly describe it. How dare that woman treat his son in any way less than like her own child?! He was disgusted.

Silver was so precious to him, and he had only just found him. If anything happened to him, Daxx would never forgive himself. He was ashamed that he had left his own son in such a place…what kind of a father was he? He was supposed to protect Silver from such danger. That was half the reason he took Silver away from Polo and that cat girl. Really, fighting against Iblis on his own…the boy had a death wish!

He was never going to let Silver live that kind of life. That was what his life's work was all about.

Daxx put Silver back down on the ground. The boy had a blank look on his face, as if he wasn't entirely sure of himself. The older hedgehog wondered what the younger was thinking.

"Are you in any pain?"

"No. I'm okay," Silver replied. "I've had worse from Iblis."

That was not something Daxx wanted to hear.

"Silver, even though I definitely don't agree with Ovia's actions," Daxx lectured. "What were you thinking, trying to run away like that?"

"You know what I was thinking," Silver responded. "I was thinking I would leave so I could go back home."

"Silver, what do I have to do to convince you that I want what's best for you?" Daxx wasn't sure what to do. "The colony is the place for you. This is home. We're safe here, together."

"Safe? Safe?! That eagle just showed me that this place isn't remotely 'safe'!" Silver argued, his voicing rising drastically. "What makes you think I'd believe this place was safe?!"

Daxx was about to retort, but Silver took off running. Forget the plan of sneaking out; he'd just make a run for it. He knew where the exit was. It was just within his reach.

He arrived at the exit, but was stopped by a pair of bear guards at the door. They looked down at him with a smile, but quickly changed their tune when they saw his angry face.

"Let me out," Silver demanded of them. The bears looked at each other for a moment before answering him in the negative. "Let me out of here!"

"Sorry, kid, we can't let you out without adult supervision," one of the bears replied. "You shouldn't be outside by yourself, with Iblis and its spawn running about."

"I said, let me out!" cried Silver, picking the bear up with his psychokinesis and dropping him a few meters away from the door. The second one jumped to pin the child down, but Silver caught him with his power as well. He dropped the bear on top of the other one and made a dash for the exit.

Silver suddenly found himself floating. His feet were running, but because they weren't touching the ground he wasn't going anywhere. He stared down at this body, and noticed that it was glowing a strange green color, similar to the way things glowed light blue when he lifted them with his psychic power.

He was slowly pulled backwards, and then turned around, finding himself face to face with his dad. Daxx was holding up one hand, which was glowing the same color that Silver was, and his long, dark green mane floated around him as if he was underwater. He had a very stern expression on his face.

"You can levitate things too?" Silver asked meekly. Daxx ignored the comment.

"My apologies, gentlemen, for my son's behavior," the older hedgehog said to the two bear guards. They nodded, understanding that the boy was just upset about something. Daxx nodded to them in return. "We're going home. Now."

Daxx levitated his son the entire way back to their quarters, sat the boy onto the bed, and locked the door closed.

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The two hedgehogs, father and son, sat in silence staring at one another for several minutes.

"I don't know what to do with you," Daxx said helplessly. "Silver, you're my son—"

"That doesn't give you any right to rule my life," argued Silver.

"I'm not trying to rule your life. I'm just trying to show you that this is the best place for you…for both of us," the older reasoned. Silver simply glared at him, making Daxx sigh. "Silver, I'm your father. I want what's best for you, what's safe for you."

"My 'father'…my 'father'! You are anything but that! You left my mother before I was even born! We were on our own from the start!" The younger hedgehog screamed at the top of his lungs, leaping up from his position on the bed. Silver had finally snapped, it appeared. This outburst caused Daxx to jump back. He had not expected that, despite the previous yelling Silver had done. "And then you come around and take me from the only two people who meant anything to me! Away from my family and home! Wh-What makes you think you can be my father after doing that! Where were you when Iblis attacked us?! When my mother died?! You were never there! You never cared! All you cared about was this stupid colony! I needed you before, but not now!"

Silver was panting by the time he was finished. He slowly turned around and huddled himself into one of the far corners behind the bed, his legs giving way halfway there. He curled up into a fetal position, and began to sob. Silver hadn't cried like that since his mother's death.

Daxx was in shock. No one had ever spoken that way to him before, not even Aria or Polo. He was at a complete loss of what to do. Part of him was angry. He had spent so much time trying to convince the Elders to allow Silver into the colony, and now this? Didn't Silver realize that he wanted them to be a family? That was all he had desired with Aria as well, but she had her own reasons. Silver wasn't even giving him a chance! Silver…

Silver was right. Daxx had taken him away from all he knew and loved. It was a miracle in itself that the boy could still love anything in this world they lived in. Daxx hadn't thought about how much Polo and the cat girl meant to his son when he took him. All he knew was that his son belonged with him, and not with that anteater. He wished he had thought this out more thoroughly before kidnapping him. He should have thought more closely about exactly how Silver would have reacted to such a drastic change in his life.

But now that Silver was here, there was absolutely no way Daxx was going to let him leave, or let any harm come to him. The boy may not believe so, but the older hedgehog was his father, and as such he would protect his son from anything and everything. He would let the world die rather than see Silver injured or dead. He would take on Iblis itself before that…and that was exactly what he was going to do.

For the moment, however, Daxx needed to deal with his still trembling child in the corner. The green hedgehog fell to his knees and crawled over to the boy. He slowly pulled him out of the corner and held him against his chest. Silver didn't do anything to protest.

"I'm here now, Silver. I'm here now, and I'll never let anything like that happen to you," Daxx said soothingly, rubbing his hand up and down Silver's back in attempt to calm his weeping. It was similar to how the raccoon girl held him before, only his dad obviously had much larger arms, which was oddly consoling. "I'll never leave you alone again. I promise."

Silver was certain that he didn't trust that promise for even a second. His own dad…it was so hard calling him that when he acted this way. Why couldn't he have left Silver at home with Blaze and Polo and just visited him? Why go through so much trouble to keep them together? And was it worth all the fuss Silver was causing? Was it worth it to Silver to cause so much fuss?

Father and son soon fell asleep, in a position similar to how they slept the previous night.

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**Review Responses**: Whoa, lots of reviewers. I need to keep up with responses better.

Malice the Echidna: Yup, you guessed right about the "stranger" knowing Polo. Although your idea of Daxx adopting Blaze is interesting, it wouldn't provide much conflict for the story, and would leave me with no plot. ;) Daxx doesn't think things through like that. Hope you keep reading!

Ciel the Hedgehog: Thanks for the review. Yeah, poor Polo. I'm honestly so mean to the guy…But things will get better for him. And you don't sympathize with Daxx? Cool! That was my intention! Thanks!

moonray9: Thanks for the review! The next one should be out soon…I think.

DayDreamer9: Aw, I'm an inspiration? How cool! Write something! No, you're not supposed to like Daxx very much, and yes, you're right about him not knowing how powerful his son is yet. This chapter should have expanded on that though. You predicted what I was going to write actually, with the attempt to sneak out I mean. And Blaze and Polo will make an appearance at the colony soon, so don't worry.

RikkuMcClowFox: Thank a bunch for the review! I love hearing from you! (coughreviewmoreoftencough.) Anyway, you're good at guessing things. Glad it's obvious enough without being blatantly stated. Hope my explanation about the colony works for you. There will be a bit more on that in the next chapter.

Pinkdarkrose: I'm glad you like this story so far! You put the situation with Daxx perfectly. Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm glad that got through to someone. Thanks again!

LittleShadow: Thanks for the review. Don't fret. Blaze will have her moments, including the one you read in this chapter. She's important and one of my favorite characters, so I have no intention of leaving her hanging. As for name suggestions, well, here's how I named some of my original characters from this fic.

Aria's name is Italian meaning "air." At the time I was creating her, back when I wrote "Golden Beginnings," I had the idea to make her have the elemental ability of air, like Blaze can control fire. I ended up dropping the idea because I couldn't get it to fit in the story without adding a whole bunch more explanations that would have slowed that story down. Regardless, the name stuck.

Daxx is a little more complicated. There's a planet in the third Ratchet and Clank game called Daxx, which in turn was named for the character Daxter (whose nickname is "Dax") from the Jak and Daxter series…I least I think the planet was named for him, since the two series have multiple references to each other. I chose the name for Silver's father because…well, I liked it.

As for Polo…uh, he was meant to be just a minor character when I created him for my Silvamy series, so I don't recall giving his name much thought. I _did not_ name him for the sport or for Marco Polo, so don't even think that. I'm not sure why I named him that actually. Sometimes a name just comes to you.

Not sure if that was helpful, but that's how I went about it. As you can see, names can come from anywhere. Just find a way that works for you and stick with it, is the best advice I can give. Good luck!

Until the next time, my readers!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yup, finally another chapter, after so long. Now that school is almost out for the summer, I will hopefully be posting chapters for all of my works more often. I like this chapter, because it gets all the characters together again and finally explains some stuff about what Daxx has been doing at the colony. It also poses a question about destroying Iblis that I'm shocked was never addressed in the Sonic 06 game. Just something to think about.

On to the chapter!

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Blaze was quickly woken up by a tremendous roar, one she knew too well. She glanced out the window of the small building she and Polo had decided to spend the night in. It had become too dark for either of them to see very well. This was odd to Blaze, because it had never been so dark where she normally lived due to the light that the nearby lava emitted; however, there was notably less magma in this area, so it made sense really.

Polo showed up seconds later, looking out the same window. Iblis was no where to be seen, but the volume of that roar indicated that it was close by. The two looked at each other for a split second before dashing out of the building.

They leapt to another ledge and hid under it. Blaze could not feel any heat nearby; she was always able to sense when Iblis was nearby because of the pyrokinetic abilities it had cursed her with. Based on what she was feeling now though, if Iblis was around, it wasn't very close by.

Polo gave a hand signal, pointing in the direction he wanted them to run to. Blaze replied with a silent nod. Polo held his hand up for her to wait, and then signaled to move. They jumped up and rushed out. The anteater rushed east with Blaze right behind him.

They ran for a full ten minutes, never letting up. Blaze of course ended up in front of Polo, but despite his injured leg he was going at a fairly quick pace. The young cat actually quite impressed. There was another roar and Blaze glanced around in anxiety. She couldn't see Iblis anywhere, and she did not appreciate being surprised by it.

From the corner of his eye, Polo noticed a young goat waving his arms in the air. He turned to look, and the goat motioned for them to come. Polo called to Blaze and pointed to the goat; she nodded and ran in that direction. Another roar let out as the goat led the pair to an entrance leading underground.

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The passage the goat led them too was lit up with lights on the ceiling. Polo had seen these before, but they were rare and only available for buildings that still had a power source somewhere. The metal of the walls were rusted slightly, but held up nonetheless. He could tell that the path went at a downward angle, and the light from the entrance became smaller and smaller as they went further underground.

The goat stopped finally at a small door. He held up a piece of metal to the door, and it slid open.

Blaze held in a gasp.

There was an underground base beyond the door. They were apparently on the lowest floor, and the circular room was huge. She had never seen such a huge place! She could barely see the other side of the chamber! Around the room were doors just like the one she just entered from. There were so many she couldn't count them while just standing there.

The center of the room was covered with dirt, and there were some workers toiling at the few plants that were growing there. She knew that Polo was a food distributor, but she had never seen how the food itself was grown. It was interesting to see. There were also pipes running up and down the walls, and some of them were leaking droplets of dirty water. There were workers trying to fix those leaks as well. Wires ran from the floor to the ceiling, and Blaze figured that they led to the power source that allowed for light so deep from the surface.

The goat turned back to Polo.

"Welcome to our colony. You may stay down here until the alarm for Iblis passes," he said. He gestured to a set of stairs on the far side of the room. "You need to report yourself to the Elders on the second floor. They will give you further instructions."

"Thank you," Polo said. The goat nodded and left.

Polo looked nervously. The goat had said "our colony." Did that mean that Silver was here? Polo prayed that his guessing about the colony's location had been correct.

He turned to see Blaze wandering off towards to growers. She glanced around at the trees, or the plants that were trying to be trees at least. The young cat had not eaten in a while; she and Polo had run out of food by the second day of travel, and she was hungry. One of the workers, a deer, spotted her, took one of the fruit from the tree and handed it to her. She gave him a large smile and bite into the fruit. It only made her stomach growl more forcefully. The deer went back to work.

Polo tapped her on the shoulder and gestured back to the stairs.

They reached the next level to see that it looked very much like the bottom one. There were still doors on the surrounding circle of wall. There wasn't any dirt or food being grown, and the pipes and wires were no where to be seen. There were more people running about doing different tasks: to name a few, some were delivering items, some were caring for children, and others were discussing different issues concerning the colony.

Blaze was in shock at seeing so many people in one place at one time. She had always been told, by both her parents before they died and by Polo, that Iblis had the tendency to attack large groups of people. This belief made it so that most people did not form colonies like this, but rather lived solitary lives. The fact that she, Polo and Silver stayed together was unusual and dangerous enough, as Polo continuously pointed out to them.

Polo asked one of the passing citizens where the Elder's chambers were. He wanted to learn more about the colony, and where better to start looking for Silver than with the leaders of such a place? He was pointed to another set of stairs with large, double doors at the top. Polo gestured for the young cat to follow. The bear guards at the doors were very agreeable, and quickly announced to the Elders that they had visitors.

The pair was faced with ten Elders. There was one hawk, one leopard, one armadillo, one squirrel, two rabbits, one iguana, one opossum, and one orangutan. The last one was a very elderly wolf, who sat in the center of the semicircle that the chairs each Elder sat in made. The wolf was gray around his face an head, showing he was clearly very old. He gave a toothless smile to the pair. With a wave of his hand, two rocks moved from the walls and placed themselves in front of the group. Blaze stared in surprise, but the wolf simply motioned for them to sit. They did.

"Welcome to our colony, travelers," he greeted amiably. "I am Elder Dolph, current leader of this colony. May I ask your names?"

"I'm Polo," the anteater replied. "And this is Blaze."

"Were you attacked by Iblis recently?" Dolph asked.

"Yes. On our way here," Polo answered. "One of your people spotted us and led us here. He said we should speak with you."

"I thought so. Our scouts have reported Iblis sightings a lot lately," Dolph said, almost to himself. "You may stay here as long as you need. You said you were on your way here? Did you need to speak with us?"

"We're looking for someone. A dear friend of ours," the anteater responded.

"His name is Silver. He's a little white hedgehog a little shorter than me," Blaze interjected. "His dad brought him here. Have you seen him?"

"Ah yes. Daxx's boy," Dolph stated, unperturbed by Blaze's interruption. Polo almost bristled at the use of 'Daxx's boy.' "He was brought in two days ago. He and Daxx should be on the third floor."

"May we see him?" the cat asked.

"Of course."

Dolph was more amused than insulted as Blaze quickly shuffled out of the room. Polo gave an apology and followed her. He knew what she was thinking, and he couldn't really blame her.

Blaze rushed up the next flight of stairs and glanced around. What in the world?

There was some sort of giant pipe leading to the ceiling, stopping just before it touched it. There were other pipes and wires and lights all around it. Blaze had no idea what she was looking at. It was far more advanced than anything she had ever seen before. What was it used for?

Her attention on the object dissipated immediately the moment she spotted a flash of white among the legs of all the people walking around. She rushed forward and saw exactly what she had been searching for all this time.

"Silver!" she called out. The white form spun around, and a surprised and relieved smile spread across the hedgehog's face.

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Silver felt his father move off the bed early in the morning. He remained still, his eyes sealed closed from his dried tears. He was so tired and sore. The bed really wasn't that comfortable; it was giving him a backache. Why did Daxx sleep on this thing anyway?

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but at some point Daxx started to shake Silver's shoulder, trying to rouse him.

"Silver, it's time to get up," Daxx said, his voice gentler than it had been the day before. "Come on, Silver."

"Leave me alone," the white hedgehog replied. His voice was still hoarse from all the screaming he had done.

"I have something very important to show you."

"I want nothing to do with you right now," responded Silver. He was much too tired to try and argue with his dad at the moment. There was _nothing_ that could make Silver get up and go anywhere with him.

"I want to show you what I've been doing the past six years," Daxx explained. "The reason I wasn't taking care of you all this time."

…Okay, maybe that would get him up.

Silver turned his head and looked at him. Daxx was looking at him with hope in his eyes. He truly wanted Silver to understand what had been going on. If he did not get out of bed on his own, Daxx was going to carry him there.

The younger hedgehog slowly rose. Pain shot through his spine from his rear due to the spanking he received the day before, but he did not wince. Daxx, however, spotted the raw skin from where his son was hit, and his blood boiled. Silver saw his angry expression and cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I'm really sorry, Silver, that I left you with that monster yesterday," Daxx said apologetically. Silver did not respond. "Are you okay?"

"No," the boy said, somewhat bitterly. He was too tired from his tantrum to elaborate. "Where are we going?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

"No. Where are we going?"

"…Follow me."

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Daxx led his son to the top level of the colony, the level where he performed his work. Silver already knew that his father was in charge of some kind of construction there, but he didn't know what it was.

Once they reached the top of the stairs at the entrance to the third floor, Silver crouched down, the stinging in his rear really starting to bother him. Daxx simply picked his up and carried him the rest of the way. Silver rested his head against the older hedgehog's shoulder, his exhaustion getting to him.

The boy was placed back on the ground when they, apparently, reached their destination. Silver glanced up and his eye widened.

Before him was some sort of giant machine, with a large pipe going up and almost touching the ceiling. In front of it was some complicated computer system, with various lights, switches, and button. Silver had seen such systems before in some of the ruins of Crisis City, but he never was able to make them do anything other them beep randomly. Behind the computer, there were strange indents in the pipe with a pointed shape. There were other various wires and lights, and the metal this contraption was made out of was rusting, indicating that the machine was constructed from were old parts.

"What is this?" Silver asked. "A computer thing with some giant pipe?"

"It isn't a pipe. It's a cannon," Daxx told him. "This is the weapon we've been working on. This is what we're going to use to destroy Iblis."

Silver was silent for a moment. "What?"

"We found blueprints of a cannon that the ancient ones used long ago," Daxx described. "Supposedly, the cannon flew up in the sky and shot down threats from up there. It was believed to be the most powerful weapon ever built by the ancient ones."

"Blueprints?"

"A sort of description of how something is built," the older hedgehog continued. "Elder Dolph was able to translate the blueprints, and we've been working on the weapon ever since."

"The Elders can read?" Silver's mother had told him myths about words that were put on an object and do not move. He knew that there were some words placed on some buildings near where he lived, but as he couldn't read he never knew what they said. That skill was incredibly rare, as the people were more concerned about survival than entertainment.

"Elder Dolph can, yes," his father continued. "And from what he's said, we've been able to build the cannon again."

Daxx looked up at the weapon, taking in the results of the many years past.

"It's taken us nearly six years to make it. It's not the best copy, because we don't have the same materials that the ancient ones had," he said, reminiscing. "But we believe we can use it to destroy Iblis the way they destroyed their own enemies."

"Why didn't they use it against Iblis when it first appeared?"

"…I'm not sure," admitted Daxx. The very thought had crossed his mind before, but that didn't mean he had an answer. "But we are sure it can do the job, once it is finished."

"It's not finished?" Silver asked.

"We need special gemstones to power the cannon. See these slots?" Daxx said, gesturing to the indents on the front of the pipe. "They go here. We need all seven in order to use it at full power. We have found only six."

Daxx finally turned back to his son.

"That's what I was looking for when I found you," the elder hedgehog explained. "I was looking for the last Chaos Emerald."

He bent down to look his son in the eye, who looked slightly dazed at the whole contraption and concept.

"Do you understand now? Why I was gone?" he asked the child. "I wish I could change the past so it could be different, but can you at least understand why now?"

Silver was silent, taking all the information in. Suddenly, all his rage at his father for kidnapping him faded away. Destroying Iblis had been his one dream even before his mother's death. If this weapon could do that…

The thought of a world without that monster was almost surreal. Possibilities ran through Silver's mind. Would the lava rivers cool off into hard stone? Would the heat in the air slowly become bearable? He had heard tales of a time when the air was cool enough that water actually fell from the sky. Could that happen again? Would the dark clouds disperse and actually show the sunlight? Would he actually be able to see the true sky?

He looked his father in the eyes. Daxx was wordlessly pleading for him to understand…pleading for him to forgive him.

Silver gave a nod. His father smiled, clearly relieved.

"I have the other Chaos Emeralds here," Daxx explained, nodding back towards the machine. "I'll put them in to show you."

Daxx climbed up over the main system to the indentations in the cannon barrel. Silver watched him silently. That is, until he heard a voice he had not heard in days.

"Silver!"

The boy turned around and saw his best friend Blaze standing behind the legs of the crowd. She grinned and began rushing towards him. He met her half-way, clasping her hands and feeling that familiar heat that was always emitted from her hands. Relief spread across Silver's chest.

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	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I know, I know. I said I would post more often once school was out for the summer and I haven't. I'm really sorry! To be fair, I really meant it at the time.

So, to make it up to you all, I have found some time for some art. I have drawn my interpretation of Daxx, Polo and Aria. These initially started as a challenge from a reviewer, and I just kept going for some reason unbeknownst to me. Anyway, you can see it at my DeviantArt site here without the spaces: http:// shielddrake42. deviant art. com/

Hope you all enjoy some dialogue that was long in the coming!

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After this whole mess was over with, Silver concluded two things.

First, as much as the colony interested him, he did not want to live there for the rest of his life. He had to be outside, fighting Iblis and its spawn. He wasn't sure what it was, but every fiber of his being screamed that he was supposed to be fighting. It was in his blood, he supposed.

Second, he never wanted Blaze out of his sight again. He had lived, fought, laughed and cried with her since they met a year ago, and even in that short of a time they became inseparable. The few days that he was away from her had made him incredibly insecure. He never wanted to feel that way again.

The simple act of holding her hand put him at ease. This was much better.

Unfortunately for Silver, his relief was cut short as he was yanked from the ground and held up by what he now recognized as his father's own psychokinesis. The familiar green color surrounded his body as he moved his legs in a running motion, obviously making no progress whatsoever. He saw Daxx push Blaze away from them with the same force, knocking her to the ground a few feet away. A gemstone she apparently had been carrying fell from her and landed a few feet away.

"I don't think so, girl," the older hedgehog hissed. He then spotted a glint of light coming from the purple gem she had dropped. His eyes widened. "Where did you get that?!"

Using his psychokinesis again, Daxx picked the gem up and brought it to his hand. He smiled eccentrically.

"This is it!" he confirmed, turning around to look at Silver again. "Silver! This is the last Chaos Emerald I was looking for!"

"Give that back!" Blaze ordered.

"With this gem, we can complete the weapon!" Daxx exclaimed. "We can finally destroy Iblis!"

She had another weird stab in her chest when she saw that the gem was no longer in her possession. The young cat pushed this aside however, when she spotted Silver being levitated a few feet off the ground. Her distress about the gemstone was quickly replaced by concern for Silver. Daxx was at first too busy muttering wildly to notice her move.

Blaze leaped to her feet and shot a small warning flame at him. Daxx saw it at literally the last moment and blocked it, scattering the fire into the air until it cooled. She gave out a growl.

"Let Silver go!" she threatened. "Or Iblis' fire will look like nothing compared to mine!"

"Where did you get this stone?! How did you get here?!" Daxx demanded, ignoring her threat. "No one but members of the colony are supposed to get in here!"

"We were spotted by Iblis and allowed in," Polo's voice answered, following by Polo himself appearing behind Blaze, finally catching up with her. Daxx of course gave him a certified death glare. "We're here for Silver. Put him down."

"No," Daxx replied simply, placing Silver behind him. "I don't think so."

"Let me down, Dad!" Silver yelled at him. This time, Daxx flinched a bit before placing the boy back on the ground, albeit still behind him and still blocked from the anteater and cat.

"What right do you have taking Silver away?" Polo argued, stepping up despite his leg.

"I have every right!" Daxx declared. "I told you. My son!"

"You aren't acting like it when you take him from his friends!" Polo replied.

"His friends who put him in danger every day?!"

"Like this colony is any better!"

"Why can't Polo and Blaze stay here with us?" Silver suggested. He was hoping to come up with an alternative, but something told him it wasn't going to be well received. "Can't they join the colony like I did?"

"I'm not staying here. Having this many people around attracts Iblis," Polo stated to the young hedgehog. "It always attacks large groups. This place is not safe for either you or Blaze."

"There you go with that superstitious nonsense again!" Daxx hollered.

"I wouldn't mind staying here with Silver," Blaze interrupted. She didn't care where she was, as long as Silver was with her.

"Dad, could Blaze stay at least?" proposed Silver. "And Polo could visit—"

"There is no distinct proof that Iblis attacks large groups!" Daxx disputed, apparently not hearing the children's pleas. "The attacks on single individuals show that there is strength in numbers!"

"It's easier for us to hide if there are fewer people involved!" Polo retorted. "Large groups—"

"You would prefer to hide than fight?!" Daxx was really losing his temper now. "You just want Iblis to keep terrorizing us?! When there could be something we could do to stop it?!"

"Like what?!"

Daxx held out the purple gem. "Our weapon—"

"That you don't even know will work!"

"It will work! We've spent six years perfecting it! This will help the people here!"

"Your colony causes more danger than help!"

"We work together to find a way to defeat Iblis! Better than cowardly hiding in the ruins!"

"Your colony is an obvious target! Only by separating ourselves do we survive!"

"Just like Aria survived by being alone with our son?!"

Polo's froze, rage boiling through his veins to a point where he could barely keep himself from assaulting the hedgehog in front of him.

"You did not just say that," the anteater said, his voice dropping an octave.

"And why not?" Daxx snarled, fisting the purple Chaos Emerald so tightly that it may have shattered had it not been mystical. "It's because of you she's dead!"

"Don't blame that on me! Don't you dare! Iblis—"

"Aria was out there with Iblis, defending _my_ son, because of you!"

"How do you make that connection?!"

"She wouldn't come with me," Daxx explained, his voice only slightly quieter. "That night I left, I wanted to take her with me. She should have come with me!"

"You just expected her to do anything you said. She always did, so why would then be different?" Polo growled. "You make me sick! You had her wrapped around your finger and you complain when she disagreed with you?!"

"She wasn't wrapped around my finger!"

"Aria always followed your lead! Anything you said goes!"

"Not anything!"

"What didn't she do?!"

"She stayed with you!" Daxx finally screamed. Polo's eyes narrowed. "It was all because of you! Don't believe me?"

"Aria didn't go with you because—"

"'I can't leave my best friend alone' she said," Daxx sneered. "You. Not me. You!"

"You left her because you didn't want anything to do with Silver!" Polo argued.

"Aria didn't even mention him at the time!" Daxx disputed. "You said so yourself a while ago, that you didn't think she knew she was pregnant when I left!"

Polo stopped for a moment. That was true. Aria didn't know then. She couldn't have. She only said that was the reason after she found out. Aria always told him it was because of Silver that Daxx left, because he didn't want to have the responsibility of being a father. But if what Daxx said was true, then Aria had stayed because of Polo. Why would she have given another reason?

_She didn't want Polo to feel guilty about her not living with Daxx_. It hit him like a rock. It _was_ because of him that she remained with him. If it weren't for Polo, she would have gone with Daxx.

"It's your fault," Daxx stated again. "Aria is dead because she stayed with you. She is dead because of you."

"It wasn't—"

"She died and _our son_ was left by himself because she 'couldn't leave her best friend alone'," repeated Daxx.

"I didn't—"

"That must really hurt, huh? To know that Silver is _my_ son and not _yours_," Daxx reasoned. "That's really what this is all about."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Polo disagreed.

"Don't play dumb, Polo. You're a selfish fool, but you're not stupid," Daxx continued. "You were always jealous of Aria's love for me. You wanted her for yourself. And now you want to keep Silver from me as punishment for keeping Aria from you."

Daxx was suddenly unsure of what to make of the odd expression Polo had on his face.

"…I love Aria like my sister," Polo stated. "And Silver like my nephew. I will do anything for him."

The use of the present tense did not go unnoticed by Daxx. The green hedgehog was still seething inside from the thoughts that had been running through his mind for the past few days, ever since he discovered Silver. Of course, he did not believe Polo for a minute. He was just saying what Daxx wanted to hear in order to get his hands on his son. He wasn't going to lose his family because of this anteater twice.

Daxx was about to tell him as much when the ground rumbled beneath him. He paused, and then opened his mouth only to shut it again when there was a larger tremor, followed by that all too familiar howl.

"Iblis!" a cry came from one of the lookout holes at the ceiling. "Iblis sighting!"

Daxx smiled, his attention only momentarily away from Polo.

"Now I'll show you when this cannon can do!" he declared, tossing the Chaos Emerald in the air and catching it. "Silver, let me—Silver?!"

Polo glanced around. Silver was nowhere to be seen.

"He was here a few minutes ago," Polo said, expanding his search, which revealed that Blaze was also missing. Oh great… "When he asked if Blaze could stay if he stayed."

"He said that?" Daxx asked, surprised.

"Daxx!" A voice yelled, followed by a person. Polo recognized the goat who had been the one to lead him and Blaze into the colony. "Iblis is in range! We have to fire the weapon now, even with only six Emeralds!"

"We have seven now," the hedgehog said, showing him the last gem.

"Then fire it!"

"But my son—"

"_Now!_"

"I will go find Silver," Polo proclaimed. Daxx looked like he was about to protest, but the anteater interrupted him. "If you don't trust me about anything else, at least trust that I will keep Silver safe."

Daxx looked angry and torn, but eventually nodded. Polo dashed off as quickly as he could with his bad right leg, while Daxx climbed onto the machine to put the last Chaos Emerald into place.

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Blaze was getting annoyed by the constant irritating feeling she kept having in relation to the gemstone that Daxx had taken from her…he had called it a Chaos Emerald, hadn't he? Whatever it was called, the fact that he had it and she didn't continued to bother her. But she would just have to let Polo handle it. Right now, she had something more important to worry about.

"Dad, could Blaze stay at least?" Silver wondered. Blaze stared at him. That was the perfect scenario to her. "And Polo could visit—"

"There is no distinct proof that Iblis attacks large groups!" Daxx yelled. "The attacks on single individuals show that there is strength in numbers!"

Blaze didn't know how Polo responded to that, because at that moment Silver grabbed her hand and ran off, dragging her behind him. She didn't know where he was taking her (and it seemed he didn't know either), but Blaze let him lead her anyway. It was clear that he was upset. She didn't blame him. Who wouldn't be upset after seeing two people he cared about arguing with each other.

They stopped near a column next to the exit stairs. Silver still held her hand, his grip loosening slightly. They stood there for a bit in silence.

"Sorry I yanked your arm out of your shoulder," Silver broke the silence, his attempt at humor half-hearted.

"S'okay."

Silver released her hand then, and sat down behind the column, clearly intent on hiding himself. Blaze moved to sit behind him, pressing her back into his. They often sat like this and talked when something was bothering one of them. Silver took this as an indication that Blaze wanted him to tell her what had happened the past few days.

The boy narrated his story, from the time he woke up in the colony to the point where Daxx had taken him to see the weapon they had built.

"…And he says he can use those gems to power the cannon and destroy Iblis," Silver finally finished.

"He called it a Chaos Emerald, I think," Blaze recalled.

"Why did you have one anyway?"

"You know those nagging feelings I've been having? They led me to it."

"Led you to it?"

"I don't know how to explain it," admitted Blaze. "I had to fight some of those fire lizards who were guarding it. Really tough by myself."

"Wish I could have seen that," Silver joked. "Hey Blaze?"

"Yeah?"

"…I'm really glad you're here."

"Me too," she replied. "I missed you."

"…Wonder if Dad and Polo have stopped fighting," wondered Silver.

"Sorry, but I doubt it."

"I wish they wouldn't," the hedgehog stated. "I hate to see them fight like that."

"Having two people who care about you fight over you, huh. Sounds great," Blaze grumbled. "I don't remember my parents. Iblis killed them. Having those two fight over you only shows how much they care."

"I'm sorry, Blaze," Silver said, his head dropping. A moment of silence passed between them. "When did they die?"

"When I was three, two years before we met," the young cat recounted. "I was cursed by Iblis to forever hold flames in my heart, and no one wanted to travel with me."

"No one?"

"Others were worried that I would lead Iblis to them," she continued. "Until you came along anyway."

"Some times we've had," Silver said. "…Maybe we should head back."

"Yeah."

Silver stood up and held a hand out to help Blaze stand. They began to walk back to where they presumed Polo and Daxx still were when a tremor shook the ground. A loud, gruesome howl followed, and the two children looked at each other.

"Silver! Blaze!" The two could hear Polo yelling for them.

They rushed to where the voice was coming from, spotting the anteater across the room. Polo had the most relieved expression on his face. He embraced the two young ones, his grip strong. There was no time for them to speak a word. The ground shook again.

Silver turned to the ceiling in shock as he saw it open up, the two ceiling parts sliding apart from each other and exposing the dark red clouds in the sky. The giant creature of fire and magma was obviously easy to see, considering Iblis' size. It was spitting fire out of its mouth at an alarming rate, clearing aiming for anything moving. Iblis quickly spotted the colony's inside once the top of the shelter had stopped moving.

The barrel of the strange weapon that Daxx and the other members of the colony constructed rose from the ground and out of the hole on the ceiling. It lifted up and turned on its side, so that the barrel was now horizontal, and pointed directly at Iblis. Silver could just see his father frantically pressing buttons on the computer panel. The emeralds on the barrel began to glow as the cannon powered up, ready to fire.

Iblis reached an arm out and grabbed the end of the barrel, sending heat into it from its arm. This caused some kind of malfunction in the gun. Electric bolts mixed with fire and headed straight to the power source: the Chaos Emeralds.

Blaze suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if someone was tearing her heart out with his bare hands, as these elements combined and warped the emeralds' power. She gave out a heart-wrenching scream of pain, falling first to the knees and then on her side, flat against the ground.

"Blaze?!" Silver exclaimed as he fell to her side. She kept screaming. "What happened?! Are you hurt?!"

"My chest!" she cried, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

Up at the computer control, Daxx was struggling as well. Much of his gadgets were malfunctioning, and his fur was shocked with electricity from the backlash of power that was surrounding him. He watched as Iblis reared back, ready to blast a stream of flame at him. There was his chance! Daxx was just barely able to spot the "Fire" button on his console, and he slammed it with his fist.

The cannon released all its power at Iblis just as it swung down to shoot its fire breath. The beam of energy from the barrel hit it right in the mouth and went through its head. It let out a scream (not a roar) before rearing back and abruptly dissipating in a flash of smoke and heat.

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There was a long silence following Iblis' destruction. The inhabitants of the colony carefully moved out of their hiding places and into the open. Then slowly, ever so slowly, the people began to cheer. These cheers soon became excited screams of joy.

Daxx shakily climbed down the weapon and back onto the ground. The green hedgehog was surrounded by the other residents, many of whom gave him pats on the back or tried to shake his hand. It took a few minutes before he actually realized what had happened.

Iblis was gone! Gone! Defeated! No more! That was it. Over seven years of work, six of those years involving construction, all of the searching and toiling for the right materials and power source…and it had all worked! His life's goal had been successful, and he was being congratulated left and right. The scene was perfect…

…Well, almost perfect. The bliss of his success was diminished slightly by his sad desire to have Aria there to celebrate with him. Living with her in peace, with no worries in the world, had actually been his goal, when he thought about it. It was impossible to describe how much he missed her.

He could recall in general detail that, following the time when she said she was going to stay with Polo rather than going to the colony, he had returned to search for Aria in hopes to convince her to live with him. He never found her again. The last time he saw her was that fateful night when she said those words.

"_**Daxx, I…I can't," Aria said, the sorrow clear in her tone. "I love you and I would go, but…I can't leave my best friend alone."**_

He didn't like Polo the moment he met him, but that was the worst. He should have never left her alone. He had convinced himself that if he was able to finish helping build the cannon, Aria would change her mind, yet he never saw her again after that day. And now she was dead. Was him going away really worth that?

Beyond the crowd surrounding him, Daxx spotted his son Silver. He was watching his father intently. The boy had been shocked to see the power of the cannon, and by the defeat of Iblis, the murderer of his mother.

Daxx separated himself from the crowd and reached his son, lifting Silver up and putting him up on his shoulders, spinning around like a child. Yes, it was definitely worth it.

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	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Okay, last chapter we had an argument, so this chapter we will have a more physical clash. Writing fights is one of my worst areas, but it seems to work okay. I believe there will be two more chapters after this one, if I'm separating these out the way I think I am…On to the chapter!

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Blaze sat on the ground of the colony's top floor, the ceiling still open and the cannon still in position for combat. She had been able to sit up once the paralyzing chest pains ended, which had occurred simultaneously with Iblis' defeat and the deactivation of the weapon. Obviously there was a connection, but the sight in front of her was currently of greater concern.

Daxx was carrying Silver around on his shoulders, spinning around in celebration of a new age. He was grinning like a madman, tossing his son up into the air and catching him numerous times. This of course made Silver look a little ill. The populace of the colony gathered around or broke off in small groups and celebrated just as loudly.

The young cat looked up as she watched Polo leave her side to speak with the leader of the colony. The wolf, what was his name? Oh right, Elder Dolph. The anteater had left to speak with him without a word, leaving Blaze sitting on the ground staring at the site in front of her.

For some reason, the triumphant atmosphere did not seem to affect her. It was quite the opposite really. She was feeling very somber, almost sad really. Blaze felt like everything about her life had been turned on its head. She had no idea where that gem she had found was (she lost track of it after Daxx had taken it), the issue concerning Silver's kidnapping, and the conflict between Polo and Daxx…everyone else except Polo felt like all the problems in the world had been resolved, but she couldn't help but feel as if they had all just begun.

What in the world had happened to that emerald? Daxx stated that there had been more than one, and they had some sort of power. What kind of power did they have? And what did they have to do with Blaze? The source of her chest pains she had been having for some time had finally be identified, but she had no idea why the gems caused them. It didn't make any sense, and she hated feeling so ignorant.

She continued to watch Daxx speak excitedly to Silver, who was constantly turned to look at her only to have his father force his attention back on him. This was so unfair! What had she ever done to him?! Blaze could understand how Daxx might have had some problem with Polo (although she wasn't sure what that was) but why did the older hedgehog have such a problem with her?

Polo returned to her, looking incredibly serious and resolute. He stared at the father and son pair. Blaze did not like that look. It clearly indicated that Polo was about to do something that he hoped he would not regret later.

"Polo?" she asked, concerned.

"Don't worry about me, Blaze," he replied.

"What's going on?"

"I just spoke with Elder Dolph," Polo explained. "He told me of the colony's traditional way of solving major arguments."

The words _"like the one between Daxx and me"_ were left unsaid.

"I have a feeling I won't like this," groaned Blaze.

And with that, he walked over to where Silver and Daxx were.

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_He is way too happy about this_, Silver thought as he watched his father jump around and prattle on about the endless possibilities of the future now that Iblis was gone.

"We can start to rebuild now!" Daxx declared. "Without Iblis here to destroy them, we can construct buildings that reach the heavens! To the sky—"

_It's as if now accomplishing this one thing…_ the boy continued to ponder. _…means that everything else will resolve itself with no effort._

"The colony can expand above ground now. No more hiding! We can gather more people and—"

_He doesn't even think that some people might still not want what he wants._

"We can grow food in abundance now, and gather actual clean water once it starts falling from the sky again! That will be amazing—"

_I mean, I couldn't be happier about Iblis' defeat either, but this is just ridiculous_.

"Silver? Are you listening?" Daxx suddenly asked, kneeling down to look his son in the eye. His face was full of concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the boy answered meekly. "A little overwhelmed."

"Everything will be fine now!" Daxx affirmed. "Your mother has been avenged and we can be a family now, with nothing to worry about!"

"…Blaze and Polo?" Silver questioned. Daxx's irritated expression was the response he had expected.

"Silver—" Daxx began but quickly stopped, looking over his son's head.

Silver turned and smiled as Polo approached. His grin, however, quickly faded once he saw the serious look on Polo's face. The only other time he had seen such an expression was the day his mother died. And now he was looking at his father the same way. Uh-oh, this was not going to be good.

"May I help you, Polo?" Daxx once again placed himself between Silver and Polo. He tried to remain civil in front of the others, but his tone betrayed his words.

"I challenge you to an arena battle."

There was a heavy silence following that statement. Silver had no idea what it meant, and neither did Blaze, who went to stand next to him. Daxx's reaction was the most noticeable: it was some sort of mix of surprise and joy. The older hedgehog smirked.

"Do you know what that means, anteater?" he asked.

"I have challenged you to a fight to resolve our argument about where Silver will live," Polo replied. "Whoever wins will have his demands met."

"What?! Polo!" Silver declared. "Don't you dare! You can't match him in a fight!"

"A physical fight to solve your problems?" Blaze recounted. "That's a little childish, don't you think?"

"Silver's right. Are you _sure_ you are up to a fight against me?" Daxx mocked, indicating Polo's deformed right leg. "You're not exactly in the best shape."

"My terms," insisted Polo, ignoring his cheek. "If I win, then Silver will live with me outside the colony, and you can visit when you want."

"And my terms," Daxx countered. "_When_ I win, Silver will live with me here, and you will not be allowed to visit."

"Now wait a minute!" Blaze protested.

"Don't I get any say in this at all?" Silver wondered, pretty much to himself since neither adult was listening to him.

"A bit unfair on the terms, aren't you Daxx?" Polo said with a scowl.

"You were the one who challenged me," he argued. "Do you accept? Or do you take back the challenge?"

"I accept."

Daxx's smirk grew wider. "I will enjoy breaking every bone in your body."

Silver looked miserable. "Don't I get any say…?"

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The surviving members of the colony gathered at the arena, all of them anxiously awaiting the commencement of the arena battle. There hadn't been one held here for a number of years. The last one had been four years ago, when a weasel and a falcon had an argument over who should be responsible for a supply of food that had been lost while transporting it to a supplier. But that was considered to be ages ago.

The arena itself was on the far side of the colony, and everyone had to go through a series of tunnels to get there. Silver had no idea where he was going, but he followed his father. He was quite shocked at the sight of the arena once they arrived.

The arena was made up of a large rectangle shape, about two hundred feet long and about eighty-five feet wide. A fence encompassing it was about four feet in height, and on top of that was a clear plastic barrier, broken in a few places, that went up about another four feet. The surface of the arena had remnants of markings of some kind, faded from centuries of no maintenance. The markings made out five circles, two on each side of the rectangle and one in the center. A red line went through the center circle, connecting one side of the arena to the other and essentially cutting the rectangle in half width-wise. A blue line of a similar nature was one either side of the center circle.

Silver soon learned that it was rumored to have once been covered over by a sheet of frozen water, but, presuming that the rumors were true, that was clearly before Iblis came along. The arena was not in the best of shape either. Some parts of the fencing were cracked and broken off, and parts of the ceiling were missing. There were numerous rocks and boulders scattered about the rectangle of the main section, and a few ditches had been carved into the ground. Although the last fight had been many years before, it was clear that this arena had still seen many battles over time…or maybe it was debris left over from a previous Iblis attack. No one was sure which.

Silver and Blaze sat next to Elder Dolph on a few of the many rows of seats that bordered the arena. There were just enough seats for the entire colony, although some of the younger members sat on the laps of the bigger inhabitants, and of course the largest inhabitants took up two seats.

Daxx stood on one end of the arena, stretching his muscles and practicing his psychokinesis on a few small rocks. Blaze was only a little surprised by this display; well, at least it explained where Silver got his own powers from. Despite the pain from being nearly electrified by the backlash of the Chaos Emeralds when he was using the cannon, Daxx looked more than ready for the fight. Polo was at the opposite end doing the same (except for the psychokinesis part), although he was nursing his right leg, as if in preparation to use it in a way that it shouldn't be with the state it was in. Strangely, he only looked slightly nervous.

Silver looked between the two before turning to Elder Dolph. "I ask again, don't I get any say in this at all?"

"I would say yes," Dolph replied, scratching one of his ears, light gray in color from both his species as a wolf and from his geriatric age. "But I don't believe that either of them will listen to you, as much as they both think they are doing what's best for you."

"Can't you talk to them?" the boy wondered aloud. "You're the colony leader! Surely they must listen to you!"

"I already tried to discourage Polo from presenting the challenge," the elder wolf answered. "Clearly, even my words fall on deaf ears."

Now ready, Daxx moved to the center of the arena, at his end of the middle circle. Polo did the same, as this seemed to be the custom of the fight. Daxx still had that confident smirk across his face, accented by the scar on his right cheek.

"Ready for pain, Polo?"

"Give me all you got."

"This is your last chance to forfeit."

"Wishful thinking, on your part."

Elder Dolph stood and raised his right hand.

"On my mark of three," he hollered. All the commotion from the other inhabitants ceased. "One…two…three…begin."

Daxx immediately sent a kick with his leg, aiming for Polo's weak spot: his twisted right leg. Polo doubled over in pain, unprepared for such a quick first strike. Daxx gave him another kick to the head, this time knocking the anteater to the ground a few feet away. He went in for another attack, but Polo was able to dodge this and jump to the side. He gave out a punch to Daxx's stomach, who grunted before giving his own punch in retaliation.

A pattern quickly formed. Daxx would attempt to land a punch or kick, and Polo would dodge it only to be attacked again. Although Daxx seemed to have the advantage as far a physical strength went, Polo was speedier and was able to dodge the attacks. After some minutes of this, Daxx was getting frustrated.

"Come on, you coward!" he goaded. "Fight me!"

With that, Polo stood still, allowing Daxx to reach him. Just as the hedgehog was about to land another punch, Polo performed a spin attack, holding himself on his left leg, his good leg, and swinging his deformed right leg into Daxx's face. He spun around a few times, landing a new kick each time. He then jumped away as Daxx flew to the ground, grunting in pain. There was a clear footprint on his face from the bottom of Polo's boot.

Daxx wiped the blood from his cheek; his scar had burst open resulting from those kicks. He stood and faced Polo, who had taken a battle stance he had not taken in over six years.

"That's more like it. At least put up a fight before I crush your neck," Daxx mocked. He held his hands out to his sides and they began to glow a soft green. "But now it's time to ramp it up."

With that, Daxx levitated a few of the boulders scattered around the arena and launched them at the anteater. Polo, knowing what kind of damage this could do, did his best to again dodge the assaults. This time, he was not nearly as lucky. Daxx's mind was clearly faster than his body, and he was knocked about across the arena.

Daxx did not go easy on his opponent. He sent wave after wave of rocks and debris. Soon, Polo was panting in pain and grasping as bleeding wounds. The hedgehog grinned spitefully, sending one last boulder at him. This one sent Polo flying into the ceiling, where there was piping carrying water across to the colony. The impact caused a rupture in the pipes, causing the filthy, brown water to blast down onto the arena. People screamed in surprise as some of them got wet, and they moved out of the way of the water source as quickly as they could.

Polo fell back down to the ground, sputtering as water went up his nose. Silver and Blaze both yelled out his name, but Dolph stopped them from assisting. This was a fight between Polo and Daxx, not them.

"I win, Polo," Daxx declared, sounding so sure of himself.

The anteater lifted himself to his knees and coughed. He had to do something about those telekinetic attacks…he glanced around, looking for what options he had. He clearly could not match his enemy in physical combat, and he was vulnerable as long as Daxx could use his psychokinesis. He splashed some of the water with his fist, and a grin crossed his lips.

"I'm not done quite yet, Daxx," he responded. "I've got a trick up my sleeve I doubt you know about."

"Huh?"

Polo lifted an arm, the same way Daxx or Silver would when psychically moving an object. The water around him lifted up like a wave, surrounding him and forming a barrier. Daxx took this as an aberration of nature, and sent more rocks at his adversary. The water deflected the attacks easily, leaving the hedgehog bewildered.

Polo raised his other arm, and the water lifted him up so that he was held a few feet above the ground. The water kept him up as if a hand had grasped him. He shot his arms out, and the water rushed over to Daxx, slamming him into the ground, into the walls, and into the ceiling.

Now it was Daxx who was in trouble.

The pattern had reversed. Daxx quickly found himself unable to concentrate enough to counter with his psychokinesis, and his lungs were burning with the water that managed to get down his throat. He could vaguely hear his son calling out something, and them the water stopped.

Daxx fell to the ground, coughing up both water and blood. He landed on his stomach, his muscles weakened and the strength taken from his body from the attacks. He had no idea that high pressure from rushing water could have that effect. He had head and limb lacerations from crashing into sharp edges from the boulders, plastic fences, and broken pipes. His blood mixed with the water as he struggled to stand.

He had to keep fighting! The fate of his son depended on it…he had to keep fighting…he had to…

Polo slowly hobbled, clapping his hands and slowing parting them, parting the water that lead to the prone body in the process. Daxx was breathing heavily and was coughing blood, but he was still alive. The anteater moved over to finish, but found himself faced with a different pair of golden eyes.

Silver had leaped from his seat next to Polo and Dolph and had run into the arena, placing himself between his injured father and the angry anteater. He held his arms out and shook his head.

"Polo, stop!"

That scream for him to show mercy stayed Polo's hand. He never could say no to this child, and he wasn't about to start now. Daxx didn't look like he could take another beating anyway. It was best to let him live. Nonetheless, he moved forward and placed his twisted foot on Daxx's back, holding him there as a way to declare his victory.

"That's enough, Daxx," Polo declared. "This fight is over."

The green hedgehog looked up at the anteater one last time before he closed his eyes, blackness taking over his eyes and mind.

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Daxx abruptly opened his eyes only to close them again at the flood of light that was above him. He tried to block the light with his hand until his eyes adjusted. He could feel his body protesting at every minor move he made. His head, legs, arms, torso…just everything hurt. How did he hurt himself again?

"Don't move too much, Daxx," the hedgehog recognized the voice as the one belonging to his leader, Elder Dolph. He opened his eyes all the way to find himself face to face with the old wolf. "Don't aggravate your injuries."

"Elder? Huh? Wait…" Then it all came crashing down on him. The arena battle! He lost! No! "Silver!"

Daxx swiftly jumped from the metal panel he had been laying on and rushed from the room, ignoring Dolph's frustrated statement of "I just said not to move." He knew he was in the recovery chamber on the second floor of the colony, so he knew he was near the exit. If Polo had decided that he, Silver and the cat girl (Blaze?) would leave immediately after the battle, then that would be where they were heading…unless they had already left. Daxx forced his painful body to speed up as that thought entered his mind.

His instincts turned out to be correct. Silver and his two companions were standing next to the stairway to the surface. Polo was discussing something with one of the bear guards while Silver looked around expectantly, as if searching for something. Blaze was watching the other two, appearing more relieved by the moment.

Daxx was at his son's side in mere moments, grabbing him and holding the young boy to his chest. He glared at Polo, who was now just looking exasperated.

"Not this again, Daxx," the anteater complained. "Haven't you had enough?"

"I don't care about the traditions!" Daxx exclaimed. "I—"

"Dad." That firm voice, sounding much older than the one it belonged to, interrupted Daxx's rant before it escalated. He glanced down at his son, who was staring at him with an expression that was both serious and kind. He wondered if Silver realized how much his facial expressions looked like his mother's had. "Let me go."

Very, _very_ reluctantly, Daxx released him. Silver backed up a foot, but looked intently at the older hedgehog. Daxx cocked his head, a little confused. The next words out of the boy's mouth were, well, not shocking, but a bit surprising.

"I am through with you and Polo arguing over me. I'm done listening to it," Silver said, his voice taking on a sort of loud wispy tone, but increasing in anger by the moment. He looked back and forth between his father and Polo, making sure it was clear that he was addressing both of them. "I am through with no one listening to what I have to say! I am the one this involves! So I'm calling the shots! Got it?!"

Daxx and Polo both blinked. Blaze had to stifle a laugh.

"You're an idiot," Silver said, speaking to his father first and crossing his arms. "You are acting like a child. 'I want this!' 'I want that!' It's really annoying."

He then turned to Polo.

"And you are being selfish," he continued. "If I want to get to know my dad, I should be able to without you throwing a fit. It does not set a good example."

Both adults bowed their heads, looking appropriately ashamed. Silver let out a breath he had been holding in.

"Now, I want you two to shake hands and at least _try_ to get along, even if it's just pretend," the boy demanded. He moved from between the two and looked at them expectantly. "At least, do it for my sake."

Polo and Daxx stared at each other. Slowly, an amused smile graced Daxx's lips, and he let out a small chuckle.

"Polo, we're being lectured by a child."

"Maybe because, well, Silver's right. We _have_ been acting like children."

There was another moment of silence. Silver and Blaze looked hopeful, though Silver was still scowling. Eventually, Polo stepped forward and put out his right hand.

"Not friends," he clarified. "But at least civil?"

Daxx looked at the hand, and then grabbed it and gave it one shake. "I think I can live with that."

Silver let out another huge sigh. At least that was taken care of.

This minor accomplishment, however, was cut short as the ground began to rumble again. The four looked around, shocked. An earthquake? A natural one perhaps? This wasn't the case though, as there was a roar following every tremor. These sounded far more furious than any that had come before. Wait…it couldn't be…

Daxx stared ahead, not believing what he was hearing. "No way…"

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	8. Chapter 8

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Elder Dolph, being the old wolf that he was, needed a little time to reach one of the lookouts to see what the source of those howls were. Inside, he knew that it was Iblis. As the oldest member of the colony, he had heard those roars more times in his life than anyone else had, possibly combined. He doubted that, should he live to see Iblis' true end, that those snarls would ever leave his mind. That was a scary thought.

The wolf stood at the lookout spot and stared, with as passive a face as he could muster, at the magma monster. Like the other members of the colony, he had believed that it had been destroyed by their weapon. As elder, he should have known that it would never be that simple, but he had hoped…

One of the coyote members rushed up to the lookout spot. "Elder Dolph!"

"I know," Dolph conceded. "It's Iblis."

"What should we do?" the coyote asked. "Our defenses are down and the dome is still open."

"Evacuate," the wolf ordered, turning to leave the dock. "Immediately. Youngest members first."

"Yes sir!" the coyote yelped. He then cried out a gasp. "Elder! The weapon!"

Dolph twisted abruptly to look at the weapon, to the south. He could just see a dark green form moving up the weapon's duct to the control panel. There was no doubt about who that was.

"Daxx, you fool," Dolph whispered to himself, finally moving to leave the lookout to go to the weapon. "Now is not the time to try that again!"

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Daxx left his son in the hands of Polo to try and get the weapon up and running again. His logic: if it worked once, it will work again. He climbed up the weapon to the control panel where he could input the commands. His body was screaming in pain at him, not only from the last use of the weapon when there was an electrical backlash from Iblis' attack, but also from the battle with Polo (where he had been quite beaten up by Polo's unexpected power over water).

He reached the control panel and pushed multiple buttons to make it turn on. Nothing happened. He tried a second time. Again nothing. There was no power in the weapon at all.

"What the—" he said with a scowl, barely keeping himself upright due to the trembling ground. He could see Iblis not far from him, making its way closer and closer. He had to get this weapon working!

Deciding that it was the power source that was the problem, he climbed over the control panel. Sure enough, the indentations where the Chaos Emeralds were supposed to be were empty. Looking around below, he spotted seven gemstones scattered about. Daxx leaped down to grab them, but hesitated. Something was wrong.

These couldn't be the Chaos Emeralds. They did seem to hold the same kind of power (he could feel it through his skin as he held one), but the shape was completely off. Chaos Emeralds, despite their name, were actually cut in a diamond (or brilliant) cut. These gems were cut in the standard emerald cut, which was square in shape with truncated corners. Taking one, Daxx jumped back to the indents and tried to place the gem there. It didn't fit. What had happened?

Then the explanation of exactly what had happened crossed Daxx's mind. When Iblis grabbed the barrel of the weapon and sent a counterattack into it, it had caused a backlash of energy. That backlash must have gone to the power source, to the Chaos Emeralds, and caused a reaction that altered their shape. As figured before, this meant that they wouldn't fit into the slots for the cannon anymore, which meant they couldn't act as the power source. No power source, no power, no cannon.

Daxx threw the gem down in extreme frustration. What was he supposed to do if he couldn't use the weapon?!

"Dad!"

He snapped his head around to see Silver below him, rushing to climb up the weapon's bottom. He was about to order his son back to evacuate when Iblis let out another roar. Daxx turned again to find himself nearly face-to-face with the giant maw of stone and flame, and the heat made him sweat, even more than thought possible. Its blasted Daxx's face and body with a wave of heat and fire. It then lunged out, knocking him and the weapon off from the top. It went crashing to the colony floor below.

Other members screamed in horror as they fled to avoid the falling contraption. Silver jumped out of the way at the last minute. Once the dust settled, the young hedgehog stared at the remains of the weapon for just a moment before rushing to start moving the debris off of his father.

"Dad?! Dad!" he called as he hoisted some of the boulders and metal fragments out of the way. "Can you hear me?!"

"Here, Silver," his father's voice replied. Silver lifted some more of the debris off from where he thought the voice was coming from. After he removed one of the metal beams, his father sprang out from beneath some of the dust and smaller rocks. He gave his son a glare. "What are you doing here?! You should be with Polo and the other evacuees!"

"I wanted to make sure you were safe!"

"My safety is not what you should worry about! Take care of yourself!"

"Dammit, Dad! I can't lose you like I lost Mom!"

Daxx froze at this exclamation. It would seem that more and more often his son would say his thoughts that he, as his father, would never really think about. It was his son's welfare that he thought about, but he never once thought that his son would think about his. It was enlivening, really, to know that his son cared that much despite what Daxx had previously put him through.

These thoughts quickly passed out of his mind though, as another roar ripped through his ears again. Over his shoulder, Daxx saw Iblis rear up, lift its arms and began to form a giant boulder above its head. Once it was about the size of the arena he had fought Polo in, Iblis launched the boulder at the two hedgehogs.

Daxx pushed Silver to the ground and raised his hands to hold the enormous stone up. It froze in midair as his psychokinesis held it in place. His body was protesting in every possible way to tell him to stop what he was doing, but he forced it to keep on. He could not let this boulder hit his son. What might happen to him in the process never even crossed his mind. He kept chanting to himself "Keep it off Silver! Keep it off Silver!" and this was the only motivation his body had at that point.

What neither hedgehog saw was that Iblis was building up another stone of the same size. It threw this one at the static boulder, shattering both of them and showering various rocks and magma onto the two hedgehogs. The moment Daxx felt the stone he was holding shatter, he twisted around and covered Silver's body with his own. The boy gave out a shriek of fright as he and his father were buried, and his vision became nothing but brown and smoking rock.

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It was a few minutes before Silver opened his eyes again. He was surrounded by brown brick, metal and rock, with his father laying half on top of him as protection. He could feel the weight of the wreckage on top of him and his dad. Using his telekinesis, he moved the larger parts off of them and pushed to reach air. Silver shoved one last time with a grunt and rolled his father off of him. He could still see Iblis, but it had moved and was turned away from him.

"Dad, we need to get out of here while Iblis isn't looking," the boy said, shaking his dad on the shoulder. "Dad, we—Dad? Dad?!"

There was no response. Daxx had gone entirely silent, and his skin and fur was colder and clammy. Silver shook him harder, urging him to wake up. The older hedgehog's eyes remained closed. Silver looked down and saw a huge laceration on his abdomen. His vision briefly flashed back to the time he found his mother's body after she had been killed by Iblis. It was almost the same thing.

"Dad! Open your eyes!" Silver screamed, pleading and panic lacing his tone. No…not this again! "Dad! You promised! You promised you wouldn't leave me alone! …You promised…"

As the realization of what happened poured over him, Silver felt something that was different from the time his mother died. Then, he had felt extreme sorrow and hopelessness. Now, however, the only thing he could register was a burning, unspeakable rage through his chest and limbs. Leaving his father to lie in the rubble, Silver slowly stood up and turned to face Iblis, which was looking away from him and blasting fire at some other unlucky people.

"You are dead, Iblis!" he yelled out. And with a leap, he rushed towards Iblis' head.

Iblis turned at his scream, but was not prepared to be shot in the eye with a psychokinetic-powered punch. It let out a roar not of rage but of pain. It was surprising to Silver to hear this colossal creature give out such a sound. It was as if his psychokinesis had a particularly damaging effect on it.

Silver swooped around and gave another punch to the face. It was beginning to hurt his hands, because he was after all punching either solid or molten rock. He didn't notice this at all; Silver was too preoccupied with the anger in his chest. It was blinding, and he soon was punching and kicking wildly at Iblis head. He was doing damage though, so he kept at it.

Eventually, the uppermost part of Iblis' head broke off, almost as the top of his head was actually a helmet that was cracked and knocked away. Wanting to finish the creature off (even if just for the time being) Silver flew up to the top of Iblis' head and slammed his palm onto its top skull. He could feel the hard yet smoldering stone crack and blow apart under his hand. Iblis let out another howl as it seemed to disappear in a blast of fire and smoke.

Silver watched from above as Iblis' remains literally melted into the lava pits below. He then noticed his feet, suspended in midair. …Wait a minute.

He glanced around, taking in the lack of supporting ground beneath his feet. He hadn't noticed before, since he was so focused on getting revenge on Iblis for his father, but he was in fact…flying! Silver didn't even know he was doing it…how was he doing it again? Looking at his hands and skin, he saw that he was gleaming the light blue color that normally surrounded the things he levitated. So he was levitating, rather, because flying was a little different.

What a rush! This was an amazing feeling! Flying! Fine, levitating! It was not enough to drown the anger and grief he was feeling completely, but it made him feel a little better. Silver flipped around a few times, getting accustomed to moving in the air. He found that he required very little concentration to keep himself airborne, which was not entirely astonishing since he was able to do this while he was focused on Iblis. It was the an experience beyond words, with the final thought on Silver's mind being how he could use this ability to fight Iblis in the future.

After a few minutes of getting used to this, he stopped and stared at the lava where Iblis disappeared. There was no doubt in Silver's mind that Iblis was not finished. It would come back, as it always has. It was a stoppable force only temporarily. If something as powerful as that cannon his father and the colony constructed couldn't stop it, what could?

Silver left the area and landed back near the spot where he had left his dad. Blaze was there, waiting for him. Once he was back on the ground, he looked closely at her. The young cat looked mildly dazed to see her best friend flying, but said nothing of it. She was more concerned about how desperately lost Silver looked. Whatever joyful emotions he experienced while levitating swiftly left him, as he recalled the reason he discovered this power to begin with.

"Blaze, my dad…" he gasped, falling to his knees and smashing his fist on the ground. She moved to kneel next to him, and tried to comfort him as he shook with rage. "Blaze, one of these days…one of these days…I'm going to destroy Iblis for good!"

"Silver, your dad…" Blaze said with a shake of her head.

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	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Oh geez, I know it has been forever since I last updated this. I could give multiple apologies and reasons for why it has taken a decade to post the final chapter…but I think my readers would rather get straight to the story itself. As for the voting I had way back when…the general consensus seemed to be a mix of a sad and happy ending, so that's what I went with. I was actually given a very good idea by reviewer Kyle XY, so go thank him for the inspiration! And now…finally…the final chapter.

* * *

Blaze put her hands on Silver's shoulders and shook him, forcing the young hedgehog to look up at her. He couldn't identify the expression on her face. It was some sort of strange mix of relief and sorrow, as if she knew something important that she wasn't sure if Silver should know. That was exactly her problem, but she decided to tell him the news anyway.

"Silver, your dad…is still alive."

Silver stiffened at this. He must have been hit by Iblis harder than he thought. He couldn't have heard her right. "What did you say?"

"I said, your dad is alive," the purple cat repeated. "He's…not doing good, but he's alive."

Silver was off as fast as he could go. Jumping up from his crouched position, he rushed off to where he had left his father when he had taken off to attack Iblis. He leaped over the rubble that was left of the colony, weaving between the few people who had returned. Silver was panting hard, but the burning in his lungs was nothing compared to the thoughts running through his mind.

His father was alive! What had Blaze meant when she said he wasn't "doing good"? Silver was sure that he was badly injured, but just how badly? Was it fatal? Was he going to be all right? He remembers that Daxx has been horribly cut on his abdomen, and there has been a lot of blood. There were no means or methods to healing injuries, so Silver hoped that it wasn't as bad as he was imagining.

* * *

Polo watched from a distance as Silver finally reached his recumbant father. The younger hedgehog wrapped his arms around the elder one, and took a better look at the injury to his father's stomach. Polo could only stare in misery as the two conversed, being too far away to hear their words. Despite this, Polo knew exactly what Daxx was telling his young son; he had told Polo moments ago. He could almost read Daxx's lips as he explained to his son the extent of the damage.

It was a horrible chest and stomach injury. Breathing alone was hard enough, and there was no way Daxx would ever be able to stand on his own again. The few cloth rags that Polo has scavanged from around the colony ruins were pressed into the wound, staunching the blood as much as possible, but they were already deep red from the profuse bleeding. The edges of the laceration were becoming ragged with infection and dirt. There was no way to heal Daxx, and the wound was too great for his own body to heal itself. If the bleeding didn't kill him, the infection certainly would.

Daxx had survived the attack by Iblis, but he was still going to die.

Polo had to turn away as tears spilled from Silver's eyes again. He tried looking everywhere but at the pair of hedgehogs. This unfortunately forced him to look around at the damage that Iblis had done to the colony. The top floor was completely decimated, and there were many holes leading down to the second and first floors, where people were beginning to gather what was left of their belongings…and the other members of the colony. The weapon was of course destroyed, with the gemstones (Polo wasn't sure if they were still considered Chaos Emeralds like Daxx has claimed) still sparkling in the rubble. Ironic really, that they would have such light in the midst of such distress.

A pair of raccoons passed the anteater, carrying something wrapped in a brown sheet between them. Looking around again, Polo could see others carrying similar packages. He knew what those were. He had carried one himself, containing his best friend, a year ago. Watching these people deal with their allies this way…Polo felt oddly detached. Later on, he would suppose that was his coping mechanism. If he was detached from the events around him he wouldn't feel that grief that hung so heavily in the air, and he knew that he needed to be strong for Silver and Blaze at that time.

The anteater was still trying to not think about his best friend's son behind him when Elder Dolph walked up to him. The eldest member of the colony shook his wolf head at the anteater's blank expression and gave out a sigh.

"I suppose you want to say 'I told you so'," Dolph said, although there was no malice present in his voice. "You did always argue with Daxx about large groups living together attracting Iblis."

"I would say that, but I think you all have enough to think about," Polo replied, gesturing to the bodies that were being retrieved from the various parts of the ruins, the reasons for death varying between being crushed to being scorched. Polo forced his attention on the wolf. "What will you do now?"

"Rebuild," the elder answered simply. "This isn't the first time we've been attacked by Iblis with these results, but we press on."

"Do any of your members decide that living in groups isn't for them and leave?"

"Some do of course, and I wouldn't blame them," responded Dolph. "But so many stay as well. Each member has to make his own decision."

"Why do you stay?" Polo wondered, more as a rhetorical question. "Is it really worth it?"

"We stay because we pray that we can find a way to defeat Iblis for good," Dolph answered him anyway. "Don't you believe that it can be destroyed?"

Polo was silent for a long while, honestly considering the question. Could he really hope that Iblis would be destroyed? After everything he had been through in his life, and what he knew future generations would go through, like Silver and Blaze…

"No," Polo said, his face still expressionless. "I don't think it can be destroyed."

Dolph gave a nod of acquiescence and left. It was a silent agreement to disagree, Polo realized.

At some point, Blaze had come over and tugged on Polo's hand. He looked down at the purple cat. "Blaze?"

"Do you think anyone here would mind if I took the Chaos Emeralds back home?" she asked. Polo was a bit surprised by this and asked her why she wanted them. Blaze shrugged. "They've been bothering me ever since I found that one a few days ago, and remember that weird reaction I had when they were used with Daxx's weapon? There's something important about them, and I'm connected."

"Yes, I remember," replied the anteater, who just rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I don't think anyone would mind. Chances are they can't use them again. Or if they could use them, they wouldn't want to anyway."

Blaze nodded in agreement with his logic, and went to retrieve the seven gems. Polo scratched his head. It was odd that contact with Iblis would cause the Chaos Emeralds to change shape and power like that. Then again, he didn't know much about this kind of thing, so Polo just supposed anything could happen. And if Blaze was going to be keeping them, it was very likely that he would learn more about them soon enough. Knowing that he was going to be in close range of these powerful stones made him feel a little anxious, but he wasn't going to tell Blaze that.

* * *

As Blaze went to retrieve the seven gemstones, Polo walked back over to Silver and Daxx. The two had fallen into an uneasy silence, obviously brought about by their sorrow of Daxx's looming death. Silver kept his head laid on the uninjured part of Daxx's chest, while the older of the two stared off at the darkly clouded sky, one hand rubbing his son's back. If it wasn't for the blood seeping from Daxx's wound, Polo would have thought it was a pretty nice sight to look at.

Polo uneasily cleared his throat, bringing the hedgehogs' attention to him.

"Silver, Blaze says she wants to take the Chaos Emeralds—or the transformed ones, whatever they are—back home," the anteater infomed him. "We were just wondering what your plans were?"

Silver couldn't bring his voice to form words. He wanted to stay with his father until his dying breath, but he knew he should travel back home with Blaze and Polo. If only he had a little more time…

Luckily for him, his father made the decision for him, albeit indirectly.

"Polo," Daxx said, his voice rough with the pain he was enduring. The named one turned his attention to him. "I have a favor to ask."

Polo just nodded, indicating for him to ask away. Who was he to deny a dying hedgehog's wish?

"Since I'm going to die, no matter where I am, I want to be buried next to Aria," Daxx pleaded. He gave a small cry of pain as Silver lifted his head from his father's chest. "Could you do that for me?"

"…Of course." Polo forced himself to ignore Silver's pained face as he said this. This was not a topic he wanted to have in front of Aria's son.

"Can you give me a hand then?" Daxx asked. "I don't think I can stand."

Polo walked over to the pair and pulled one of Daxx's arms around his shoulder. He struggled to pull him up, as he had enough trouble putting weight on his own twisted leg. Aria would have been proud to see the two getting along, regardless of however short the time.

Blaze had joined them again, carrying a pack on her side, which must have carried the Chaos Emeralds. Polo gave out a grunt as he struggled to move the hedgehog. Then suddenly, Daxx's weigh seemed to decrease greatly. He looked at the green hedgehog and saw that he was glowing a soft blue color. Polo turned his head to the side to see Silver standing next to his father, glowing the same color, and instantly it clicked. Silver was carrying his father himself with his psychokinesis.

The group slowly began walking, Blaze leading the way back to their home in the middle of Crisis City. It was a while before anyone spoke, and it was Daxx who broke the silence.

"Silver, I saw you flying around Iblis when you were attacking it," he said, his voice full of an odd pride. "I had never thought of levitating myself to fly. How'd you do it?"

"I'm not sure," Silver responded. He had been oddly quiet the whole time, and the scratchiness in his voice reflected this. "I just kind of did it?"

"What else do you know how to do?" asked Daxx. "Tell me everything."

* * *

The return back home was bittersweet, Blaze thought.

She had set off with Polo with the determination to come back with Silver, and she got her wish. Her best friend was back, and she never wanted to let him go again. This experience had shown her that, although she was able to keep a clear head on her shoulders, Silver did not like being separated from her and Polo. His frail emotional state had proved this to her. It was clear that Silver was pretty insecure when alone. But she would do everything in her power to make sure he never was alone again. And she had finally solved the mystery of what had been bothering her chest for weeks. Whatever the deal was with the Chaos Emeralds, she was going to guard them as she was going to guard Silver.

On the other hand, returning home meant that now she had to be there as Daxx passed. Blaze had seen her parents die, but she had taken consolation in the fact that it had been quick and painless. She knew they hadn't suffered much at their death. But with Daxx…his death was going to be drawn out, and she could tell he was in pain, both physically and mentally. She didn't want to watch someone die that way. She could only imagine what Silver thought of it.

Blaze decided to hide the Chaos Emeralds in the basement of the building where she had first met Silver. It was in the shape of a semi-circle, with a large flat area leading to a cliff right above a pool of lava. They stayed there pretty often, the place having the happy memories of their first meeting. She arranged the gems in a circle on the floor of the basement. Blaze wasn't even sure what she was doing. It just felt right.

She left the building to find Silver waiting for her. He gave her a smile, but she could tell it was strained.

"All done?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Dad says those are Chaos Emeralds," Silver recalled, as if still trying to wrap his mind around the events of the past days. "But I think they're something different now."

"I think so too," Blaze concurred. "They have a different energy. I don't know how I know that, but I can tell."

"Yeah."

"I think I'll call them Sol Emeralds instead of Chaos."

"Why Sol?"

"My mum told me a story, about the ancient ones," Blaze recited, referring to the people of the old times, before Iblis showed up and destroyed the world. "The sun shown brightly in the sky, and some people called it Sol."

"But why call them that?" Silver reiterated.

"Their sparkle," the cat explained. "It looks like how I imagine the sun looking like."

"…I want to see the sun someday," Silver dreamed aloud.

"I think we will," Blaze agreed, resolutely. "One day we will."

"I said it before, but I'll say it again," Silver swore. "One day, I'm going to destroy Iblis."

"_We_ are going to destroy Iblis and save the world," Blaze corrected, her emphasis very clear to her companion. "At any price."

"At any price."

"…How's your dad?"

"He's lying by the lava pool over there," Silver told her, pointing to the spot where Daxx's green fur was obvious against the red and orange of the magma. "He's…not good."

"Go be with him, Silver," Blaze insisted. The white hedgehog looked at her in surprise. "Polo and I will still be here later. Don't worry about us right now."

"…Thanks, Blaze."

With that Silver did exactly what she ordered, and sat himself right next to where his dying father lay. Daxx looked up at his son, smiling as much as his pain would allow him.

"Hi, Silver."

"Hi, Dad."

Her young heart heavy, Blaze watched the two hedgehogs as they had their last moments together.


End file.
